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This paper reports the results of a three-year-long research on business relationships, relying on qualitative data gathered through multiple-case study research of four focal companies operating in Australia. The industry settings are as follows: steel construction, vegetable oils trading, aluminum and steel can manufacture, and imaging solutions. The research analyzes two main aspects of relationships: structure and process. This paper deals with structure describing it by the most desired features of intercompany relationships for each focal company. The primary research data have been coded drawing on extant research into business relationships. The main outcome of this part of the research is a five construct model composed by trust, commitment, bonds, distance, and information sharing that accounts for all informants’ utterances about relationship structure.

This multiple case study research aims to identify the characteristics of scaling up SMEs in Chile for exploring how and why some entrepreneurship in the information technology (IT) sector are able to scale up and develop sustainable strategies, based on three consecutive years. The average sales of the companies during the last period analysed was around US$1,323,579, with an average annual growth rate of 66.7%. Scaling up SMEs may require several attributes to achieve positive revenue and develop effective high growth rates that allow them to succeed over several years.

To discern the phenomenon of entrepreneurship, the methodology of multiple case study research was conducted in three parts. The first was to define and design the research process, in which the study should settle the theory analysis and then show that research propositions and questions. The second part of the research was to prepare, collect and analyse the data through crafting instruments and data collection protocols as a source of evidence to conduct the pilot and multiple case study. In this stage, interviews were scheduled, transcribed, analysed and coded to explore how individual attributes may create a scaling-up entrepreneurial process for maintaining or developing high performance in the IT sector. The last part of the research concludes and validates the research propositions for the identification for potential attributes, which were obtained during the qualitative study.

Attributes were selected when 13 or more SMEs reported the importance of this initiative for the process of scaling up their SMEs. As a result of the data analysis, the empirical findings suggest on the importance of the academic background, budgetary control, negative entrepreneurial experiences, building teams, geographical expansion and first critical experience as key attributes for scaling-up. Additionally, the data propose that constructive entrepreneurial ecosystem and reforms financing markets and programmes are two additional components that could moderate the interaction between the scaling-up process and the achievement of rapid sales results as a key outcome measure.

The first limitation was the lack of consensus on the phenomenon of the scaling up of entrepreneurship. Information in Latin America and emerging countries is scarce, which also represents an opportunity for other researchers to deepen and validate the results reported here. Even though it was an attempt to understand the issue of environmental change, this additional limitation did not allow the evaluation of these adjustments over time that can positively or negatively drive the strategies corresponding to the evolution in each of the moderator variables.

Because of the characteristics of the sample in terms of size of the SMEs, industrial sector, location, culture, socio-economic environment and years of establishment of the company, the study cannot be generalised in terms of other industrial sectors or countries. The results of this research are also limited to SMEs in Chile, and to the extent that it can be applied to emerging countries IT sectors with similar sample characteristics, it must be done so with caution. Yin states that eight cases “are sufficient replications to convince the reader of a general phenomenon”.

Policymakers have the option to identify what skills and knowledge the entrepreneur requires to be trained to scale up their established ventures. In this context, they will also benefit from the empirical contribution of knowing what the restrictions that limit this process are, such as adverse tax systems and public strategies. Additionally, it is of public interest because no national records exist on the presence of theoretical terms.

Even though the literature promotes the present findings, it shows that there is an absence of empirical evidence in emerging economies to better comprehend which factors may affect the development process of scaling up entrepreneurship in the IT sector. Both deliberate and emergent strategic initiatives are necessary for the scaling-up process where six critical factors are the basis of the scaling-up. This empirical contribution for entrepreneurs will support the achievement of rapid and sustained sales results for scaling up their ventures.

Despite considerable research on the subject, there is still some misunderstanding about what characterizes successful project delivery in construction projects. Evaluating project delivery success is crucial for organizations since it enables them to prepare for future growth through more effective project management mechanisms and rank the organization's projects for continuous improvement. There is considerable disagreement over a set of success criteria that can be applied to all kinds of projects when evaluating project delivery success, making it a complicated procedure for practitioners and scholars. This research seeks to alleviate the problem by validating and testing a systematic project delivery success model (3D integration model) in the Australian construction industry. The aim is to establish a dependable approach built upon prior research and reliable in evaluating delivery success for any project type.

Based on a novel project delivery success model, this research applies a case study methodology to analyse 40 construction projects undertaken by a single Australian project management consultancy. The research utilizes a mixed-method research approach and triangulates three sets of data. First, the project delivery success (PDS) scores of the projects are calculated by the model. Second, a qualitative analysis targeting the performance of the same projects using a different system called the performance assessment review (PAR) scores was obtained. These culminate in two sets of ranking. The third step seeks validation of results from the head of the partnering organization that has undertaken the projects.

The findings of this study indicate that the 3D integration model is accurate and reliable in measuring the success of project delivery in construction projects of various sizes, locations and durations. While the model uses six key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure delivery success, it is evident that three of these may significantly improve the likelihood of PDS: value, speed and impact. Project managers should focus on these priority aspects of performance to generate better results.

Restrictions inherent to the case study approach are identified for this mixed-method multiple-case study research. There is a limitation on the sample size in this study. Despite the researcher's best efforts, no other firm was willing to share such essential data; therefore, only 40 case studies could be analysed. Nonetheless, the number of case studies met the literature's requirements for adequate units for multiple-case research. This research only looked at Australian construction projects. Thus, the conclusions may not seem applicable to other countries or industries. The authors investigated testing the PDS in the construction sector. It can assist in improving efficiency and resource optimization in this area. Nonetheless, the same technique may be used to analyse and rank the success of non-construction projects.

Despite the research conducted previously on the PDS of construction projects, there is still confusion among researchers and practitioners about what constitutes a successful project delivery. Although several studies have attempted to address this confusion, no consensus on consistent performance metrics or a practical project success model has been formed. More importantly, (1) the ability to measure success across multiple project types, (2) the use of triple bottom line (TBL) to incorporate sustainability in evaluating delivery success and (3) the use of a complexity measurement tool to adjust delivery success scores set the 3D integration model apart from others.

This article provides a new definition for case study research. Achieving deep understanding of processes and other concept variables (e.g. actors’ perceptions of their own thinking processes, intentions and contextual influences) is identified as the principal objective of case study research. Using multiple methods to “triangulate” (i.e. confirm and deepen understanding by using multiple sources all focusing on the same process/event) within the same case is described. The article outlines the core criticisms made by case study researchers of large sample surveys. A need exists for a paradigm shift in research on organizational behavior (including modeling the antecedents of new product performance). The article outlines the telling weaknesses of case study research as seen by other researchers. The article examines Senge’s core propositions related to the “mental models” of decision participants. Details illustrate the use of specific research methods for case studies to achieve different research objectives and the combination of objectives. Finally, the article illustrates basic concept variables in a case study and 12 propositions are reviewed briefly. This report reviews classic and recent contributions in the literature on case study research.

Chapter 2 describes how behavioral science research methods that management and marketing scholars apply in studying processes involving decisions and organizational outcomes relate to three principal research objectives: fulfilling generality of findings, achieving accuracy of process actions and outcomes, and capturing complexity of nuances and conditions. The chapter's unique contribution is in advocating and describing the possibilities of researchers replacing Thorngate's (1976) “postulate of commensurate complexity” — it is impossible for a theory of social behavior to be simultaneously general, accurate, and simple and as a result organizational theorists inevitably have to make tradeoffs in their theory development — with a new postulate of disproportionate achievement. This new postulate proposes the possibilities and advocates the building and testing of useful process models that achieve all three principal research objectives. Rather than assuming the stance that a researcher must make tradeoffs that permit achieving any two, but not all three, principal research objectives as, Weick (1979) clock analogy shows, this chapter advocates embracing a property space (a three-dimensional box rather than a clock) view of research objectives and research methods. Tradeoffs need not be made; having-your-cake-and-eating-it-too is possible. The chapter includes a brief review of principal criticisms that case study researchers often express of surveys of respondents using fixed-point surveys. Likewise, the chapter reviews principal criticisms of case study research studies that researchers who favor the use of fixed-point surveys express.

INTRODUCTION This paper examines some of the issues which arise from management research which develops theory from case studies. It first raises some fundamental questions which arise when case material is used in management research. For example, confusion surrounds the distinctions between qualitative data, inductive logic and case study research. Further, the processes of building theory from case studies lacks clarity. To help clear up some of these matters several research programmes are described in which the author has been personally involved and which developed theory from case studies. These case studies are used as illustrations of the multiple ways that case material might be used. Although every researcher has his/her preferred approach, it is concluded that case studies may be built up in a number of ways from, on the one hand, deep single case studies to multiple case studies using comparative logic, on the other. Between these two extremes are a number of hybrid methods which use both approaches.

The purpose of this paper is to review the existing literature on empirical research in lean manufacturing (LM). It provides a critical assessment of empirical research methodology of 178 research articles published from 1990 to 2009.

The article reviewed a set of 178 empirical research articles in LM research with respect to empirical research design and its related facets. The 236 empirical research articles which are published in 70 journals during 1990-2009 are collected from four major management science publishers, namely, Emerald Online, Science Direct, Springer Link and Taylor & Francis. In total 178 research articles published in 24 journals are selected for critical review of empirical research methodology in LM. The approach for the critical review of 178 empirical research articles in LM is based on empirical research approach given by Flynn et al. (1990). The critical review discusses the current status of empirical research in LM and future directions.

It is concluded from the analysis of the results that: the number of empirical research articles in LM is increasing at a faster pace than ever before; theory building and theory verification articles are equally advanced; the researchers have also unexplored various aspects of empirical research such as importance of triangulation of data, alternate research designs other than survey and case studies; contextual focus is mostly on the manufacturing industry; more focus required on other aspects of empirical research such as collecting the samples from developing and undeveloped countries, larger sample size, longitudinal data collection methods. Finally, it concludes that there is a need of LM frameworks, which gives the stepwise process to remove all kinds of wastes from any organization.

To the knowledge of the authors, it is the first of its kind attempt to critically review the empirical research articles in LM. The review analysis entirely focussed on descriptive statistics of empirical research in LM. The sample size is one of the unique features of this research as the number of shortlisted articles is 178 in 24 journals published over a time span of 20 years (1990-2009).

The purpose of this paper is to encourage consideration of the multiple factors affecting dual use of case studies for both research and teaching, and conversion between the two types; to encourage development of a case transformation protocol to add rigor to this process.

Literature review with discussion.

Noting that insularity diminishes the potential contribution of the research underlying either teaching or research cases, this paper advocates establishment of more formalized conversion approaches.

Dual use of case studies can provide economies of scale for academics, conserving time, effort, and funding, but involving greater care and advance consideration of the implications of differences between teaching and research cases.

By highlighting key issues and proposing solutions, this paper advances understanding of the potential for transformation of cases and the importance of advance consideration of their purpose(s).

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to gain a deeper understanding of the views of stakeholders residing within impoverished communities in Angola on rapid technology diffusion and its implication on labor market challenges within their regions. To address this gap, and consistent with the qualitative paradigm, this paper conducted methodological triangulation of the study’s multiple data sources, including semistructured interviews and archival data in the form of government labor reports, reflective field notes and archival data to establish the trustworthiness of the study’s data analysis and findings.

A gap in the literature exists between the general diffusion of technological innovations and socioeconomic development that results in an ambiguous connection between theory, academia and professional practice among sub-Saharan African countries. To inform governments in developing countries on how to effectively achieve the diffusion of innovations (DoI), this integrative literature review supports a broader qualitative multiple case study that offers insights into the views of stakeholders residing within impoverished communities in Angola, on rapid technology diffusion and its implication for labor market challenges. This overview of existing research offers a targeted knowledge base that can support future research and help promote the potential for socioeconomic development in low-income countries. By addressing the patterns of the relationship between various economic imbalances and the adoption of technology that promote the social divide, along with highlighting the importance of understanding the overall technological dualism between various social groups, promises effective policies for successful DoI in impoverished sub-Saharan African regions by evaluating its impact on local labor market challenges.

The results of this multiple case study research oversee a thematic analysis of the data collected based on the study’s multiple sources, following a cross-case analysis in which this paper synthesizes the findings of the initial thematic analysis of data to answer the study’s central research question. The multiple case study approach in this research follows the concept of replication logic discussed by Yin (2017) in which the same findings are replicated across multiple cases as similarities and differences are traced across cases, and the study results obtained in this way are deemed robust and reliable.

A potential key limitation in this study was associated to the participants’ limited experiences about the study’s central phenomenon, which if inadequate, could not have been reflective of the challenges faced and shared by the target population. This study mitigates the limitation with an observation in which a much sharper understanding of the participants’ knowledge about the topic of interest was developed. Another limitation was the sample size that could have been small and may not be representative of the entire population. This study mitigates the limitation through careful interpretation of the data and strong conclusion of results.

For practical implications, this study emphasized the importance of participative approaches to ICT implementation that if well adapted by policymakers could lead to a more contextually anchored ICT-supported poverty alleviation within different dimensions of poverty.

This study addresses an under-researched area on why innovation policy initiatives calling for technology diffusion in Angola continue to stall rather than combating labor market challenges in impoverished communities. This study brings the voices of local populations on technology diffusion in impoverished regions of Angola to the extant literature, launching the development of a body of knowledge that may point the way to a promising avenue of social change through innovation and technology diffusion.

This research is original and significant in that it addresses an under-researched area on innovation policy initiatives calling for technology diffusion in Angola that continue to stall rather than combating labor market challenges in impoverished communities. This study also makes an original contribution to Rogers’s seminal theory and concept of diffusion of innovations. The study’s results guided further research in technology adoption and innovation diffusion within Angola, a nation faced with poor human capital development and an increasing proportion of the world’s poorest people and unemployment.