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Getting Going: Organizing Ethnographic Fieldwork
... I conducted two on-site field studies, one of four months in Denmark and another of one week in the United States, both involving participant observation (Kristiansen & Krogstrup, 2009;Waddington, 2004;Moeran, 2009). In relation to the field studies, I carried out 26 semi-structured interviews (Kvale, 1996;Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015) along with countless informal conversations, which I documented through extensive research journaling (Burgess, 1982a;van der Waal, 2009;Phillippi & Lauderdale, 2018). A comprehensive collection of organisational documents was also compiled. ...
... Meeting new people at lunches proved a great opportunity to network beyond the HR and CSR departments, and a source of valuable new perspective when these new contacts would give me their immediate input and reflections on gender and equality in the company off the top of their heads. My experience here appears to resonate with van der Waal (2009), who notes that much information will only be revealed when you interact informally with people and that striving to capture the cues in this information is 'essential for developing an awareness of the complexity and multi-layered character of meanings and relationships' (p. 35). ...
... My document analysis had also made me quite familiar with the company's cor-porate communication. In this way, I was able to register when interview participants drew on official and more polished narratives (van der Waal, 2009). While I believe that the relative truth of formal narratives may be less important, I certainly learned to be attentive to the dialectic between patterns and fragmentation in accounts (Alvesson & Kärreman, 2011) as well as alignment and contradictions between the front-and backstage 42 (Goffman, 1990). ...
Denmark is a gender-equality spearhead nation. Or is it? The other Nordic countries generally outperform Denmark, which is consistently sliding in international rankings. As the political will to intervene has, for years, been limited, responsibility to act falls on individual workplaces. But how are organisations motivated to undertake gender-equality initiatives in a context which generally assumes that equality is already achieved? And which displays comparatively strong opposition to feminist politics and action? This dissertation investigates the motivation to engage in gender-equality work to see if we may understand it as something other than just personal; as collective, organisational or societal. It conceptualises motivation as pressures, incentives or contextual factors capable of generating organisational gender-equality actions independently of any one individual. An improved understanding of motivation may prove valuable by enabling advocates, policymakers and leaders to engage those motivations that hold the greatest promise to drive organisational equality efforts. Studying motivation as something more than individual means exploring it in context – a context which, in this dissertation, is construed as a ‘postfeminist gender regime’. ‘Postfeminism’ covers a set of prevalent gender‒feminism‒femininity discourses that are highly ambiguous because they are anchored in a simultaneous celebration and disavowal of feminism. Understanding the Danish context as a postfeminist gender regime makes evident how, despite significant progress, equality remains an unfinished project. Through its capacity to illuminate nuances and contradiction, postfeminism offers a lens, hitherto underutilised in the Danish setting, which may be key to progressing with respect to persistent and emergent gender inequalities.
... The methodology employed in the study falls under the broader framework of organizational ethnography. In the ethnographic tradition, emphasis is put on the importance of being present and 'getting one's hands dirty' as work-related events unfold in an effort to capture the nuances in everyday experiences (Bate 1997;Kostera 2021;van der Waal 2009). The primary aim of participant observation was to gain insight into firsthand experiences of manual routine labor through real-life apprenticeship by undergoing training; on the first day, the researcher received a uniform, name tag and work gloves. ...
... Involving in interaction with the participants I can capture lived experiences of the real cultural and practical settings from the field. In ethnographic study researcher uses ranges of tools of data collection asWaal (2009) observes ethnography "makes use of field research tools in the interpretative tradition of social science in which participant observation, conversational interviewing and the close reading and analysis of documents are key (p. 23). ...
This dissertation is for the fulfillment of the requirements for Master of Philosophy in Education (Development Studies) of Kathmandu University. Abstract approved:-_______________________________ Prof. Shreeram Prasad Lamichhane, Ph.D
... This usually involves negotiating, often unsuccessfully, with gatekeepers and facilitators, which can significantly impact our research (Davies, 1999, p. 79). Access usually changes while doing fieldwork and can differ markedly depending on the specifics of a particular field site and our interlocutors' strategies ( Van der Waal, 2009;Brown-Saracino, 2014). "Creating rapport" and "establishing trust" are key to obtaining access, but it is seldom specified how researchers are supposed to do so. ...
Purpose
The authors introduce a recurrent section for the Journal of Organizational Ethnography which scrutinizes the various manifestations and roles of failure in ethnographic research.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors peruse a wide body of literature which tackles the role of failure in ethnographic research and draw on the experiences to argue for a more sustained and in-depth conversation on the topic.
Findings
“Failure” regularly occurs in ethnographic research, yet remains under-examined. Increased discussion on the topic will enrich debates on methodology and fieldwork in particular.
Originality/value
While various scholars have commented on the role of “failure” in ethnographic research, an in-depth and sustained examination of the topic is lacking.
... 6-7). A multi-sited approach is adopted to observe how affective labour is performed across the sector, and to trace circulation of the ethos of 'love for one's job' through discourse and imagery (Marcus, 1995, p. 96;Van der Waal, 2009). ...
This psychoanalytic study of affective labour focuses on its two central elements: human contact and love. It is based on a multi-sited organizational ethnography of the fine-dining sector in Istanbul, Turkey, where new restaurant areas known as ‘show kitchens’ place chefs in face-to-face contact with patrons. To understand the psychosocial processes of affective production, we analyze chefs’ and patrons’ experiences of encounters in and around ‘show kitchens’. We demonstrate that affect is produced through unconscious contact mediated by socio-cultural representations, which are hegemonized by the ethos of love for one’s job. We contribute to the extant literature on affective labour by studying the desirous interplay between producers and consumers of affect. Specifically, we theorize the role of the psyche in affective production, and offer a new, psychoanalytic conceptualization of affective labour. We conclude by discussing our conceptualization’s organizational and political implications.
... Miles and Huberman (2012, p. 12) defined data condensation as "the process of selecting, focusing, simplifying, abstracting, and/or transforming the data that appears in the full corpus (body) of written-up field notes, interview transcripts, documents, and other empirical materials". This means that organizing chunks of data into categories is the primary activity that helps to note details and identify emerging patterns (Hamersley & Atkinson, 2007;Waal, 2009). The data condensation included activities such as "writing summaries," "coding," "developing themes", "generating categories," and "writing analytic memos" (Miles & Huberman, 2012, p. 12). ...
This article explores instructors and students" beliefs toward effective teaching in higher education in Ethiopia. Besides classroom observations, we developed and conducted semi-structured interviews with ten instructors and 12 students at one higher education institution. We followed the data condensation and displayed it for interpreting the data. The findings highlight the qualities of effective teaching and the hope for a change in the current teaching approach to actively participate in the teaching-learning action. This, however, demands a change in designing the course syllabus and assignments and the continuous professional development of the teaching faculty.
... Whilst each interviewee spoke naturally and to a degree honestly, there was the awareness that the formal recording and the signing of the research ethics paperwork made them feel partially uncomfortable. 2 This awareness of the power dynamics in interview situations is important. Van der Waal (2009) reminds us that: ...
Since the end of apartheid and the advent of democratic elections, South Africa has made great strides, but we still continue, at times, to be unable to practise sawubona. On one level, this is not surprising given our history of separateness. The article asks whether fresh expressions of church, such as the community supper at St Peters in Mowbray, Cape Town, indeed create a space for genuinely ‘seeing’ each other and practicing being human together. The article also explores some of the problems inherent in ethnographic work amongst the poor and the vulnerable by asking whether some types of ethnographic work actually practice a form of epistemic violence and muses upon the idea of the postcolonial gaze and ‘othering’ in ethnography in contexts of poverty in the global South. Can ethnography, in some cases, be a form of academic pornography?
... Member checking provides participants with an opportunity to check these quotes and the researchers' interpretation of their views (Schwartz-Shea & Yanow, 2009) and also provides the researcher with time for reflection and hindsight and an opportunity to ask participants for clarification or further questions if required. While there are concerns over the reliability of this approach with some theoretical framing and analysis inevitably occurring as notes are written (Van der Waal, 2009;Wheeler & Reis, 1991) the hermeneutic approach for this study acknowledges biases or assumptions as part of the interpretative process, rather than a transcendental phenomenological approach which sets aside or 'brackets' these assumptions (Larkin & Thompson, 2012;Pernecky & Jamal, 2010). Furthermore, recording devices are argued to be obtrusive and off-putting for participants with their absence assisting the flow of conversation (Brewer, 2004;Gabriel & Griffiths, 2004). ...
Purpose
This paper aims to evaluate the possibilities associated with go-along technique and other mobile qualitative methods augmenting other qualitative methods as a novel approach to developing understanding of multifaceted organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
The study explores the challenges associated with “static” qualitative methods for understanding multifaceted organisations and evaluates how a range of mobile methods can achieve a greater depth of analysis when researching complex hospitality and tourism settings. The paper uses an illustrative empirical case where mobile methods are used as part of a multi-method qualitative study exploring ancestral tourism in a large, heterogeneous tourism organisation.
Findings
This research highlights how mobile methods can service to: broaden the scope of interviews through introducing enhanced meaning and spontaneity; afford opportunity to explore and verify interview findings in informal settings; and widen participation in the study through ongoing recruitment of participants.
Practical implications
The authors identify implications for researchers working within hospitality and tourism who can gain additional insight by augmenting qualitative studies with mobile methods.
Originality/value
This paper identifies challenges in using more static qualitative methods when seeking understanding of complex, multifaceted tourism organisations where work activities are mobile and spatially dispersed. This research highlights the value of mobile methods in combination with other qualitative methods, to gain greater understanding of these organisations.
... Negotiating access is always an ongoing process of establishing and developing relationships, particularly when the study is multi-sited (van der Waal, 2009 ...
... For the purposes of this study, three cultural villages were selected, firstly, on account of their representation of the three types of villages distinguished by Van Veuren (2004)-Lesedi Cultural Village in the Northwest Province and two from the Limpopo Province of South Africa, namely Thomo Living Cultural Heritage Museum and Tsonga Kraal Open-Air Museum; secondly, because of the lead author's familiarity with and access, crucial for this kind of anthropological research ( Hammersley & Atkinson, 1983;Van der Waal, 2009), to the villages and the actors who were from the adjacent rural settlements. The research was conducted over an interrupted period of 15 years during which three cultural villages, selected on account of the specific types of villages they present (see further down), were periodically visited. ...
Based on a(n) (interrupted) period of 15 years of fieldwork, this study explores the question whether cultural villages in South Africa are to be considered an effective way to conserve a particular cultural heritage in an authentic way. In order to answer this question, three notions of authenticity are juxtaposed with three types of cultural villages. The outcomes reveal a nuanced answer that suggests that some types of cultural villages do contribute to the conservation of an authentic cultural heritage, but not all. The research also shows how cultural heritage tourism is often haunted and influenced by old colonial stereotypes and exoticism.
... More significantly and from a pragmatic perspective we see how if, indeed, '[all] the world seems to be on the move' (Sheller and Urry, 2006: 207), then the traditional singlesited ethnographic fieldwork that apprentice anthropologists used to conduct is very much a thing of the past (see also Gupta and Ferguson, 1992). Elsewhere other scholars have highlighted the difficulties in doing participant observation in business corporations (Van der Waal, 2009;Moeran, 2009) and particularly of 'studying up' (Nader, 1969), when researchers are considered to be of a lower social status than those they are studying, or where the need for secrecy, confidentiality and 'health and safety' makes participant observation impossible (Lee, 2014a). While this paper takes inspiration from thinking about migration study, it is hoped that other researchers might test this toolkit -in any way modified -on other people groups, including occupational groups, in settings where participant observation is out of the question. ...
This article aims to illuminate the theoretical basis for rhythmanalysis as developed by Henri Lefebvre, who intended it to be a transdisciplinary concept that could be used to theorize everyday life, ‘from the most natural (physiological, biological) to the most sophisticated’. I will attempt to show how this concept can be transformed into a toolkit to research people groups (such as refugees, migrant workers, professionals) where it is impossible to conduct traditional ethnographic fieldwork either because of the difficulty of access or when an event (such as migration) has already taken place. It is a mainly theoretical paper informed by the author’s research on older migrants in Britain. It argues that if the principles behind rhythmanalysis can be distilled to conduct ethnography in absentia for a migrant worker group, then these same principles can be adapted to conduct research in most spaces where access and/or co-presence are difficult.
... 120-121;Lofland et al., 2006, pp. 33-53), often described as a continuous process (Bondy, 2013;van der Waal, 2009). And, of particular interest for our purposes, considerable attention has been focused on the difficulties of gaining social access to participants during field stays (Gobo, 2008, pp. ...
This paper presents a preparation strategy for ethnographic field stays that seeks to speed up the process of gaining social access (after physical access) to the participants in the field by a thematic preparation for the stay. We build on our experiences of an ethnographic inquiry as well as on autopoietic systems theory by Niklas Luhmann. We shall argue that so far, little attention has been given to possibilities of preparation of topics of communication with field participants in the foregoing of a stay. However, the existing methodological literature in this respect so far focuses mainly on the preparation of professional topics for communication. We want to add to these strategies and propose to gain knowledge about possibly acceptable topics for sociable communication in the field by conducting ex ante interviews with existing gatekeepers. Researchers can therefore prepare those topics to quickly gain social access in the field.
... Other examples of ritualization include the communicative style followed in meetings; the extent of discussion; minute taking; reportage, and style of questioning. Open discussion is more associated with a less hierarchical system, whereas reporting and closed questioning indicate a more controlled system (Deal and Kennedy, 2000;Pino and Mora, 1998;Waal van der, 2009). ...
A cultural framework to time is investigated in this empirical study of two meetings conducted in the United Arab Emirates. Eleven participants, from at least five nationalities, attended meetings conducted in one organization. Qualitative data are collected from these two meetings through a process of nonparticipant observation. Vignettes, constructed from the data collection, are illustrative of how time was considered in these intercultural meetings. Findings about time reveal meeting norms of: Delayed starts; extensions to meeting duration; interruptions by people and technology. Interpretation of the observed meeting behavior is found to fit within a polychronic dimension of time. The scholarly contribution of this study adds to the body of knowledge on intercultural communication in meetings. A contribution for those involved in intercultural meetings is to recognize a polychronic approach to time in the Arab world, and adapt meeting practice accordingly. The study is limited by findings within one organization in the United Arab Emirates, leading towards a research direction to replicate such studies in other Arab organizations.
... In this study, the employee/researcher has, on one hand, initiated the research project and conducted the different research phases but, on the other hand, has acted as participant and observer, and is thus inherently involved in the web of power relations and politics. To protect the anonymity of the people who participated in the research project , pseudonyms have been used instead of people's real names (Van der Waal, 2009). Four different research phases (A) to (D) were performed in a sequential manner, which allowed each part of the process to be informed by the analysis of the one preceding it, thus creating a documented learning process (Staadt, 2014). ...
Organizations that find themselves within a problematic situation connected with cultural issues such as politics and power require adaptable research and corresponding modeling approaches so as to grasp the arrangements of that situation and their impact on the organizational development. This article originates from an insider-ethnographic intervention into the problematic situation of the leading public housing provider in Luxembourg. Its aim is to describe how the more action-oriented cultural analysis of soft systems methodology and the theory-driven configuration model of organizational culture are mutually beneficial rather than contradictory. The data collected between 2007 and 2013 were analyzed manually as well as by means of ATLAS.ti. Results demonstrate that the cultural analysis enables an in-depth understanding of the power-laden environment within the organization bringing about the so-called “socio-political system” and that the configuration model makes it possible to depict the influence of that system on the whole organization. The overall research approach thus contributes toward a better understanding of the influence and the impact of oppressive social environments and evolving power relations on the development of an organization.
... 10 Since the departure of the last minister, 8 Cf. Van de Waal (2009) and. See also an applied form of ethnographic studies by Marais and Taylor (2007). ...
In South Africa the religious sector, through its leadership, has in the past and can
still make a significant contribution to the transformation agenda, particularly
by fostering leadership relationships across ethnic, cultural and socio-economic
divides (bridging and linking social capital). Ethnographic empirical research into
the leadership narratives of the Vlottenburg Uniting Reformed Church in Southern
Africa, Stellenbosch, showed how the leadership in this congregation moved
through different leadership paradigms in a relatively short time. An investigation
using different theoretical frames was undertaken in an attempt to understand
the impact that socio-cultural changes had on the functioning of the leadership
in the congregation. The research also investigated the transformative influence
the leadership had on the embodied ecclesiology of this congregation in a lowincome
socio-economic environment. Some suggestions are made on how the local
leadership can cross cultural and socio-economic divides and contribute to South
Africa’s transformation agenda.
... Other examples of ritualization include the communicative style followed in meetings; the extent of discussion; minute taking; reportage, and style of questioning. Open discussion is more associated with a less hierarchical system, whereas reporting and closed questioning indicate a more controlled system (Deal and Kennedy, 2000;Pino and Mora, 1998;Waal van der, 2009). ...
In today's globalized business environment, managers regularly interact with employees from different cultures. Since meetings are endemic to all business organizations, better understanding of the way meetings are conducted in diverse cross-cultural settings may increase organizational effectiveness. This study investigated business meetings in the United Arab Emirates, a country where ethnic diversity across the workforce is prevalent. The Gulf Arab region offers an eclectic mix of different cross-cultural interactions, when business meetings are being conducted. Using qualitative methods of inquiry, we collected data about meetings held in three large organizations, each with a diverse cross-cultural workforce. This study uses the conceptual framework of 'organizational rituals' to explore the nature of meeting behaviour. Findings suggest that behaviours in organizational meetings in the Gulf Arab states have many differences when compared with the norms of traditional 'western-style' meetings. Specifically, it was found that meeting times were treated rather flexibly in this cultural setting, with lateness, interruptions and a lack of time boundaries. Similarly, meeting space was fluid in this environment, with regular disruptions, open doors, and haphazard seating. Another observation is that the ethnic origin of the chairperson of the meeting determines many of the participant behaviours at these meetings. The main contribution of this research study is in identifying ritualistic behaviours that are very different to those of typical meetings held in western countries and reflect an eclectic mix of different cross-cultural interactions.
... Since this initial purchase, a further two second-generation iPads have been purchased for the prep classroom (this includes an iPad that has been purchased for the teacher). Lynch and Redpath 151 Our data-collection methods can be broadly described as ethnographic fieldwork (Atkinson, 1990;van der Waal, 2009). They included: both formal and conversational interviews with the teacher, the principal and the students; observation of classroom activities and behaviours; and the collection of artefacts such as students' work samples and curriculum framework documents. ...
With the revolution that has taken place in the functionality and uptake of portable networked ‘smart’ technologies, educators are looking to see what potential applications such technologies might have for school education. This article reports on a study on the use of portable personal computing devices in the early years of schooling. Specifically, it focuses on emerging patterns of use of Apple iPads in an Australian Preparatory (first year of compulsory schooling) classroom during the first year of implementation of these devices. We draw on student and teacher interviews and classroom observation data to provide a research meta-narrative of the intentions, practices and reflections of a ‘first year out’ teacher, and to discuss points of tension found in the contested space of early years literacy education, which are highlighted when potentially transformative technologies meet institutionalized literacy education practices. Our findings suggest that the broader policy and curriculum context of early years literacy education, and institutionalized practices found in this space, is potentially at odds with teacher-held intentions to transform learning through technology use, particularly with respect to tensions between print-based traditions and new digital literacies, and those between standards-based classroom curricula and more emancipatory agendas.
The focus of this methodological paper is to discuss the challenges of conducting fieldwork, using reflections from our experiences of accessing a research site for ethnographic data collection. The research project aimed to explore nurses' social relations in their workplace and the inequities between and within these relations among nurses of diverse social positions. Due to the sensitive nature of this topic, access to the research site posed several challenges and was further complicated by the bureaucratic ethics process that governs clinical sites in Australia. Although this study was considered a low and negligible risk research, negotiating the ethics process was full of hitches and hindrances resulting in the refusal of access. This paper offers ethnographers a reflection on challenges in accessing clinical sites to conduct research and a discussion of strategies that may be useful to navigate and counter these challenges by managing social relations in the field.
As tecnologias digitais permeiam grande parte da vida de toda a sociedade, não sendo diferente o caso das organizações e dos meios acadêmicos. O desenvolvimento de estudos sobre a utilização dessas tecnologias nos processos produtivos e de relacionamento com cliente é um tema em evidência na academia de administração, assim como a melhor compreensão sobre o a operacionalização metodológica das pesquisas que as envolvem. Sendo assim, o objetivo do presente artigo foi analisar e apresentar as etapas de uma etnografia que analisou o papel das plataformas digitais em uma confeitaria brasileira. Para isso, os pesquisadores apresentam o papel das plataformas digitais no método, e a forma como foram realizadas as aproximações e as coletas de dados nessa organização que, apesar de não depender das plataformas digitais para a produção de seus produtos, as utiliza em todos os demais processos. Entre as contribuições do estudo mostramos como as plataformas digitais nos estudos de gestão se apresentam de maneira dual, impactando a organização observadas, seus processos e cultura, e também impactando o comportamento e processos do pesquisador, que passa a contar com essas plataformas para coletar dados e armazená-los.
Abstract
Psychosocial research, which explores the unconscious and affective dynamics of organizational and social phenomena from critical perspectives, often adopts ethnographic methods. However, its locus, the unconscious, has an obscure, diffuse and dynamic nature that calls into question two central assumptions of conventional organizational ethnography: that an organization is a self-contained physical (research) site, and ethnographic research is best led by participant observation. The unconscious is produced by countless agents dispersed across time and space, making it impossible to readily identify a research site. Furthermore, psychosocial phenomena cannot be physically demarcated because a multitude of discourses, imagery, psyches, bodies, and objects are enmeshed in them. These raise contentious ontological, epistemological, and methodological questions for psychosocial researchers. In this article, we ruminate on “the field” in psychosocial organizational ethnography, seeking a robust epistemological and methodological approach to constructing and dwelling in an unconscious research site. Drawing on Lacanian psychoanalysis, we present a conceptual discussion of these issues and translate them into ethnographic methods illustrated by examples from the authors’ research. By critically re-evaluating the question of “the field,” we contribute to ethnographic studies of organizational phenomena with “fuzzy fields” without self-evident boundaries that draw on diverse onto-epistemologies.
Over the last two decades, Routine Dynamics has emerged as an international research community that shares a particular approach to organizational phenomena. At the heart of this approach is an interest in examining the emergence, reproduction, replication and change of routines as recognizable patterns of actions. In contrast to other research communities interested in those phenomena, Routine Dynamics studies are informed by a distinctive set of theories (especially practice theory and related process-informed theories). This Handbook offers both an accessible introduction to core concepts and approaches in Routine Dynamics as well as a comprehensive and authoritative overview of research in different areas of Routine Dynamics. The chapters of this Handbook are structured around four core themes: 1) Theoretical resources for research on the dynamics of routines, 2) Methodological issues in studying the dynamics routines, 3) Themes in Routine Dynamics research and 4) Relation of Routine Dynamics to other communities of thought.
Implicitly or explicitly, sequence analysis is at the heart of research on routine dynamics. Sequence analysis takes many forms in many different disciplines, because sequence is central to temporality, process, language, and narrative. In this chapter, we focus on sequence analysis in routine dynamics research. The goal of this chapter is to help researchers use sequence analysis in their research on routine dynamics. Hence, the chapter reviews prior literature that has used sequence analysis, it shows how to carry out sequence analysis and it provides implications as well as an agenda for future research.
Building Information Modelling (BIM) is believed to enable significant efficiency improvements in interdisciplinary design in construction. This is mainly based on the rhetoric of BIM dominated by promoting its capabilities for data transactions. However, literature shows that there are problems in applying BIM technologies in practice, because their use causes unanticipated shifts in the focus and organisation of design projects. Furthermore, changes wrought by applied BIM technologies transcend the boundaries of the organisation of individual projects, and displace the previous ethos of 'professionalism' in design in construction. Consequently, there is unresolved confusion and evaluation about BIM technologies in terms of the nature and extent of the change they create. The present research aims to develop a better-informed understanding of BIM-driven change in design in construction through an empirical study of 'organising' and 'order' in BIM-enabled interdisciplinary design projects.
Using a practice-based methodology, this research focused on the interdisciplinary interactions during three projects. A practice-based methodology sees 'organising' and 'order' as continuously accomplished through the ongoing activities that are performed in practices. Therefore, the research scrutinised the interdisciplinary activities and processes which look mundane but enable 'organising', and 'order' in the studied projects. Three explanatory organisational concepts are developed through the analyses of the empirical data: 'organisational premises', 'purposeful artefact', and 'technological premises'. These concepts provide three different explanations about how 'organising' interdisciplinary design in BIM-enabled projects is accomplished through the ongoing interdisciplinary activities performed in practices. Thus, they produce a rich understanding of the complex organisational phenomena. Interdisciplinary design development is then seen as a 'continuous process of (re-)establishing a shared sense of purposefulness' among the members of a design team, which largely depends on previous shared experiences. This continuous requirement for mutual dependency does not align well with the operational characteristics of BIM technologies, which are fundamentally planned and rigid. Therefore, practitioners experience divergent views of 'organising' (i.e. and 'work') in BIM-enabled projects. The 'ordering' induced by BIM technologies appears in the interface of these different views of 'organising' (and 'work'), as it is here that practices unfold, and become directed towards one or other view. In such cases, the extent to which information modelling and design development can be prioritised is determined by the level of reliance on technology, and the level of authority of those individuals who are in control of the BIM technologies.
The practice-based understandings of 'organising' and 'order' that emerge from the analyses are used herein to refine the notions of 'design', 'design collaboration', 'use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in construction design', and 'ICT-driven change in construction design'. Thus, the practice-based methodology reveals that some of the main arguments upon which the promotional rhetoric of BIM is founded are incomplete or flawed. Through its methodological and theoretical contributions, the present research evaluated BIM-driven change in design in construction, and created an agenda for further critical and practically-relevant studies into interdisciplinary design in construction. This shows the need for further research which should re-establish the use and development of BIM by aligning it with the realities of actual practice. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Implicitly or explicitly, sequence analysis is at the heart of research on routine dynamics. Sequence analysis takes many forms in many different disciplines, because sequence is central to temporality, process, language, and narrative. In this chapter, we focus on sequence analysis in routine dynamics research. The goal of this chapter is to help researchers use sequence analysis in their research on routine dynamics. Hence, the chapter reviews prior literature that has used sequence analysis, it shows how to carry out sequence analysis and it provides implications as well as an agenda for future research.
Examining learning in work-integrated learning (WIL) courses is complex. WIL traverses work and university spaces, which can be challenging for the way student learning is conceived, planned, supported, assessed and reported. This study strengthens our understanding of how students learn on placement by going directly to the source and observing learning unfold, in situ. Using an ethnographic methodology, this study adopts Schatzki’s (1996, 2010) practice-based lens to illuminate how students learn to embody and accomplish their assigned tasks on WIL placement. Findings suggest that students initially learn through performing an intermediary cluster of practices that enable them to orient, adapt and conform to new configurations of people, things, spaces, tools, bodies and technologies. These temporary transitioning placement practices are distinctive to WIL and take their shape within social practice arrangements. The study offers empirical evidence to ground and theorize learning for WIL curricula and support an emerging, materially-significant and entangled conception of learning on placement.
The theory-based sensitizing concepts about the contextual challenges putting the cooperation within hybrid virtual teams in Shared Services Organizations at risk as well as the solutions to foster cooperation provide a broad understanding about the complexity of teamwork within such settings. As such sensitizing concepts should be deployed only with the aim to be bolstered with specific content through empirical research, the qualitative, empirical part of the study presented in this book explores how members of hybrid virtual teams in Shared Services Organizations can overcome the cooperation problem to enable their teamwork to flourish. Thus, in the present chapter 1 (1) introduce the overall design of the empirical research design, thereby outlining how the sensitizing concepts informed the formulation of the research questions, (2) present the qualitative field research inspired by organizational ethnography in detail, thereby outlining which ethnographic elements the present study contains; (3) clarify the data collection through expert interviews and (4) explain the process of transcription and data analysis.
In diesem Beitrag stehen die vielfach nur randständig thematisierten Dynamiken, Fallstricke und Verwicklungen im Zuge ethnographischer Feldforschungen im Fokus. Diese werden exemplarisch anhand eigener Feldforschungserfahrungen in schwer zugänglichen und bewusst abgeschotteten Bildungssettings exklusiver Internatsgymnasien reflektiert und diskutiert. Dabei wird herausgestellt, auf welche Art und Weise diese den Zugangs-, Erhebungs- und Analyseprozess beeinflussen und die Qualität des Materials bestimmen. Im Rahmen der Auseinandersetzung werden nicht nur die speziellen Zugangsbedingungen, zum Teil prekären Situierungen und Wandlungen der Forscherrolle im Feld sowie Möglichkeiten und Limitierungen im Forschungsprozess aufgezeigt, sondern gleichzeitig auch deutlich gemacht, dass sich gerade auch Herausforderungen im Feld als gewinnbringend für die Datengenerierung erweisen können und dass Zugangsproblematiken und Dilemmata während der Feldforschung bereits wichtige Hinweise auf das Untersuchungsfeld und damit für die Analyse liefern.
In this chapter, we present a brief discussion about qualitative research, an approach widely used in social sciences to understand the phenomena that involve humans. Due to the importance given to the subjective perspective of the researcher and the participants being studied, this approach proved to be an important tool to understand the social relations of the most varied human groups. First, a brief history of qualitative research and its main features are presented. Then, we show the steps that the researcher must follow before starting his research. Finally, we have outlined some of the main methods used in qualitative research—ethnography, phenomenology, action research, grounded theory and case study—with some practical examples of how they can be used in ethnobiological studies.
Purpose – Project business represents a large part of the business-to-business
sector. The qualitative and quantitative scope of many project networks requires
that several supplier firms participate in their development and delivery.
Consequently, such project networks are characterized by a great heterogeneity
with respect to the participating firms building a service ecosystem. This raises
the question of how resource integration for value co-creation can be shaped
successfully for all partners, not least because many projects are characterized
by sometimes dramatic failures with respect to costs, duration, and scope.
Specifically, the different organizational identities provide institutional frames of
reference to the resource-integrating actors. As the organizational identities are
typically not harmonious with each other, at least partial misalignments of the
institutional arrangements that shape the resource integration processes may
emerge, leading to imperfect value co-creation or even value co-destruction.
The purpose of this thesis is to conceptualize and to empirically investigate the
impact of organizational identity as an institutional context on resource integration
in B2B service ecosystems.
Design/methodology/approach – The thesis makes use of interpretive
phenomenology in conjunction with a qualitative case study approach to access
the lived experience of actors of different professional service firms who have
experienced changes in resource integration into a single B2B service
ecosystem.
Findings – A conceptualization of organizational identity as institutional context
for resource integration is developed and empirically investigated. The findings
show a strong impact on the firms’ organizational identities and the actors’
resource integration experience and evaluation. Moreover, it is also very likely
that if unmanaged, an at least partial misalignment of the institutional
arrangements of multi-organizational B2B service ecosystems would represent a
normal and also stable condition.
ii
Research limitations/implications – The thesis shows the necessity to
investigate resource integration and its institutional context on an organizational
level and to integrate organizational identity constructs in value co-creation
research.
Practical implications – For practitioners, the thesis provides insights for
managing resource integration with multiple suppliers in business-to-business
settings.
Originality/value – As a first conceptualization and empirical analysis of the
interplay between organizational identity and resource integration, this thesis
advances the current understanding of the institutional context for resource
integration in service ecosystems. It argues for the wider relevance of
organizational identity constructs for resource integration research and paves the
way for future development.
Keywords Resource integration, value co-creation, institutional context,
organizational identity, service ecosystems, business-to-business, interpretive
phenomenology
After the civil war and the destructive Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s, Cambodian Chinese entrepreneurs re-emerged as the driving force of Cambodia’s domestic private sector. Despite their prominent role in what is deemed the reconstruction of Cambodia, Cambodian Chinese entrepreneurship and its revitalization have been understudied. This dissertation therefore explores a wide variety of Cambodian Chinese business ventures in Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh. Using an ethnographic approach and building on an embeddedness perspective on entrepreneurship, it reveals the social and cultural dynamics that buttress these business ventures.
This article addresses the problem of adhering to ontology consistent with theories of social practice while conducting ethnographic research with focus on immersion and openness. As a partial solution to this contradiction, I formulate an outline of a ‘sensibility for practice’, a filtering and sense-making device to be used as a fieldwork tool. I believe this goes a long way towards producing a processual and experience-near account of sociopolitical life while remaining true to the theoretical commitments of practice theories. The sensibility for practice consists of four main principles derived from the theories of social practice and that enable us to hold those theories lightly: focus on what people actually do (and the materials they ‘converse’ with); focus on everydayness; focus on the work of assembling, structuring and ordering; and focus on reflexivity. For each of the principles, I identify three specific ‘loci of attention’ that can serve as sensitising concepts during fieldwork. Sensibility for practice represents a narrowed-down approach to ethnographic research that is able to accommodate various strands of practice studies, including the interpretivist, ‘wholist’ as well as associationist stream.
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