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Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on Intellectual Capital

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Thanaletchumi Sathasivam et al.<br />

implementati<strong>on</strong>. One issue that was noted is that although management was supportive <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> project,<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> policies and procedures did not support <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> level <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> flexibility needed for <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> project.<br />

There were a number <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> specific problems identified with <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> staff as well. These included problems<br />

with compensati<strong>on</strong> and salary scale, as well as problems <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> lack <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> employee morale and issues<br />

about informing staff members. One comm<strong>on</strong>ality in this was that <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> relati<strong>on</strong>ship with <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> supplier <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> technology being implemented was c<strong>on</strong>sidered to be routinely good. One resp<strong>on</strong>dent indicated<br />

that it was “Diplomatically correct. Everything according to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> books.” However, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> understanding <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> technology was a significant problem identified by a number <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> resp<strong>on</strong>ses. Overall, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re was a lot<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> ambiguity about how <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> project went, and many individuals had very different ideas about what <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

overall resp<strong>on</strong>se to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> technologies actually was.<br />

5. Analysis using coding outcomes<br />

Open coding and axial coding were both used in order to analyse <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> focus group and interview<br />

outcomes and identify <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> appropriate c<strong>on</strong>structs for examinati<strong>on</strong> in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> quantitative research. Open<br />

coding is <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> process <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> coding resp<strong>on</strong>ses by identifying underlying c<strong>on</strong>cepts inherent in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> resp<strong>on</strong>se<br />

(Flick, 2006). In order to perform open coding, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> researcher first segmented <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> resp<strong>on</strong>ses to focus<br />

groups and interviews into words or phrases that identified c<strong>on</strong>cepts, in accordance with <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> structure<br />

identified by Flick (2006). These resp<strong>on</strong>ses were <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>n placed into a tabular format that allowed <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

researcher to rapidly make c<strong>on</strong>necti<strong>on</strong>s between c<strong>on</strong>cepts expressed in sentences or individual<br />

resp<strong>on</strong>ses, as well as identifying <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> underlying c<strong>on</strong>cepts that <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> resp<strong>on</strong>dents expressed. The open<br />

coding process would form <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> basis for <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> completi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> axial coding.<br />

The sec<strong>on</strong>d type <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> coding that was used was axial coding. While open coding is intended to identify<br />

all c<strong>on</strong>cepts or c<strong>on</strong>structs within a given resp<strong>on</strong>se, axial coding is performed with a direct view to<br />

answering <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> research questi<strong>on</strong> or research questi<strong>on</strong>s (Flick, 2006). During <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> process <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> axial<br />

coding, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> first step is selecti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> most relevant codes or categories from those that were<br />

previously identified (Flick, 2006). (In this research, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> previous coding process was d<strong>on</strong>e via open<br />

coding). Then, relati<strong>on</strong>ships between codes or categories are c<strong>on</strong>structed using relati<strong>on</strong>ships within<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> textual output to identify <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>se relati<strong>on</strong>ships. This allows for identificati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> subcategories, related<br />

categories, and o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r relati<strong>on</strong>ships within <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> data that shed light <strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> relati<strong>on</strong>ships that were<br />

explored in this research.<br />

5.1 Open coding process<br />

The open coding process was primarily c<strong>on</strong>ducted <strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> interviews, in which direct resp<strong>on</strong>ses were<br />

recorded. This was <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>n supported by <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> outcomes <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> focus group participants during <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> axial<br />

coding process. A sample <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> coding process has been included for dem<strong>on</strong>strati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> practice<br />

as shown in Table 2. This coding process collapsed results from focus group questi<strong>on</strong>s and specific<br />

interviews into <strong>on</strong>e category in order to determine <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> overall outcomes <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> process. The table<br />

indicates <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> number <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> resp<strong>on</strong>dents that indicated <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> resp<strong>on</strong>se pattern within <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> study. It should be<br />

noted that resp<strong>on</strong>se patterns were not explicitly based <strong>on</strong> exact wording, as <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> speech patterns and<br />

verbosity <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> various resp<strong>on</strong>dents varied substantially. Instead, it was based <strong>on</strong> general meaning <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a<br />

given resp<strong>on</strong>se. These results include all resp<strong>on</strong>ses (and counts) for each interview. During <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> axial<br />

coding process, resp<strong>on</strong>ses that were not seen from at least two resp<strong>on</strong>dents will be eliminated. The<br />

full output <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this coding process is available in Appendix A (Open Coding Categories and Results).<br />

These results dem<strong>on</strong>strate that <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re was c<strong>on</strong>siderable overlap between <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> outcomes <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> focus<br />

groups and <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> outcomes <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> interviews, although <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> interview resp<strong>on</strong>dents were c<strong>on</strong>siderably<br />

more forthcoming regarding <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir criticisms <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> project than in some <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> focus groups. This could<br />

be attributed to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> use <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> informal interviews and <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>fidentiality <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> interviews, which meant<br />

that individuals would not face repercussi<strong>on</strong>s from being h<strong>on</strong>est in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir interviews. The open coding<br />

process produced substantial evidence that would be used for <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> axial coding process, which is<br />

described below.<br />

5.2 Axial coding<br />

The output <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> open coding process was used as <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> input for <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> axial coding process. During this<br />

process, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> specific underlying c<strong>on</strong>structs that were identified in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> research questi<strong>on</strong>s and<br />

hypo<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ses were use as a focus for <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> coding process. Categories produced were <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>n collapsed<br />

and <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> resulting c<strong>on</strong>structs or c<strong>on</strong>cepts were used as <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> focus for identifying <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> appropriate<br />

questi<strong>on</strong>s to be asked during <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> quantitative process. Table 3 identifies <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> corresp<strong>on</strong>dence <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> focus<br />

393

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