Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

2. Research methodology
2.1 Qualitative and explorative research
Andrea Kő, Péter Fehér and Krisztián Varga
Qualitative researches should be conducted in research areas, in which <strong>the</strong>re are no mature,
commonly accepted concepts, methods and methodologies (Elenurm, 2003). In <strong>the</strong> field <strong>of</strong> knowledge
management, even <strong>the</strong> basic concept <strong>of</strong> knowledge has no shared definition. Because knowledge
management is at <strong>the</strong> frontier <strong>of</strong> different scientific areas, approaches and interpretations can be
radically different.
In qualitative researches, <strong>the</strong>re is <strong>the</strong> possibility to explore thoughts, definitions and assumptions <strong>of</strong>
researched persons and organisation, namely <strong>the</strong> context <strong>of</strong> research. In <strong>the</strong> complex field <strong>of</strong>
knowledge management, researchers have more possibilities to explore new, not expected results
that are relevant to research (Oakley, 1999). In qualitative research, analysis <strong>of</strong> numerical data is also
possible, but <strong>the</strong> main emphasis is on deep exploration and understanding <strong>of</strong> relationships <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
research area (Blaxter et al, 2001).
A special characteristic <strong>of</strong> knowledge management is that researches should be explorative, instead
<strong>of</strong> hypo<strong>the</strong>sis-testing, because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> immature nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> field. The goal <strong>of</strong> this research is <strong>the</strong>
deep examination <strong>of</strong> a quite unexplored area.
2.2 Case study based research
Among <strong>the</strong> tools <strong>of</strong> qualitative research approaches, <strong>the</strong> case study based research method is <strong>the</strong>
most suitable, because it provides <strong>the</strong> possibility <strong>of</strong> deep understanding. Based on Yin (1993), case
study based research should be used, when <strong>the</strong> field <strong>of</strong> research is wide and complex. The research
can answer <strong>the</strong> questions <strong>of</strong> why…? and how…?, but <strong>the</strong> questions should be posed by <strong>the</strong>
researcher (Yin, 1994). Case study based researches are suitable for testing, developing and
competing <strong>the</strong>ories (Eisenhardt, 1989). This case study based research is complemented by
statistical analysis.
2.3 Scope and method <strong>of</strong> research
The research sample consists <strong>of</strong> 36 companies from 5 EU countries (Italy, Spain, Greece, Hungary
and Slovakia), that were analysed through an online questionnaire, and selected companies were
explored through case study methodology. Although <strong>the</strong> limitations <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sample, <strong>the</strong> questionnaire
based results provide an overview, while <strong>the</strong> case studies provide better understanding. All <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
analysed company belongs to <strong>the</strong> SME category. Despite <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> relatively small size <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sample,
<strong>the</strong> analysed companies covers several industrial areas.
Services
23%
N/A Healthcare industry
Textile Industry
3%
Energy Industry
11%
3%
3%
Agriculture
9%
Research & Development
3%
Commercial
Figure 5: The sample is dominated by <strong>the</strong> IT and Services Industries.
11%
529
34% IT