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initial interviews, were recruited as participants in the study. Interestingly, both participants held the same position on the Board which created a matched pair. One of their key Board roles was managing the relationship with their partner organisation. This confirmed they were the most appropriate Board members to interview on this topic area. This method of participant recruitment is referred to as ‘snowballing’. Snowballing entails the identification of key people, and interviewing them as to who else may hold similar attributes in relation to themselves which may be able to contribute significantly to the study (Berg, 2001). Researchers such as Doz (1996), used this method in their own research, asking participants while interviewing them “who else should we interview” (p. 58). 3.3.2 Negotiating Access Gaining access to organisations may be a potential problem for outsiders, including researchers (Bryman & Bell, 2003). For example, ‘gatekeepers’ guard the institution’s concerns (Gorden, 1980). One example is by stopping external people from gaining easy access to potential participants. Lofland and Lofland (1995) outlined four suggestions for being successful in gaining access to organisations. These include connections, accounts, knowledge, and courtesy. Due to the researcher’s involvement in Auckland University of Technology’s school of Sport and Recreation, he was able to utilise connections that staff members had developed to gain access to some, but not all potential participants. Once initial contact had been made with a few of the participants and interviews began taking place, the researcher felt that this process snowballed and allowed the researcher to gain greater access to others in the organisations. 34
By keeping accounts of the research brief and precise to inform the participant of the study, and by not over complicating it, the researcher secured interviews with desired participants. All participants contacted were dealt with in the utmost courtesy (which will be demonstrated in the following paragraphs). The researcher thought it was more appropriate to contact the individuals involved directly, rather than go to the superior, in which in most cases would have been the CEO of the organisations involved. For example, the individuals could respond immediately regarding their level of availability, whereas if the CEO responded negatively this would completely discount the whole organisation. In the case of negative responses, and where the potential participant declined to participate, the researcher thanked them for their consideration. It should also be noted that gaining access to any organisation, especially private sport franchises in New Zealand is not an easy process. Private sport franchises run based on utility maximization (winning) and profit maximization (Sloane, 1976). The basis of an external researcher gaining information on any organisation may cause potential sensitivity. Norm O’Reilly, a leading sport management academic, stated that in Canada it is difficult for academics to get to talk to those involved in PSFs, even more so getting time to talk with professional team players would be near impossible (personal communication, December 14, 2007). 3.3.3 Contact Participants were initially contacted by email where they were informed of the research topic by a brief explanation, which included an information sheet. This getting in stage requires the interviewer to give an account of the research which explains the topic and requirements of participation. This should be done at the recruitment stage and also repeated when it comes to the interview (Lofland & Lofland, 1995). 35
Page 1 and 2: Determinants of Inter-Partner Learn
Page 3 and 4: 3.3 Data Sources...................
Page 5 and 6: INDEX OF FIGURES Figure 1: Case Stu
Page 7 and 8: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to of
Page 9 and 10: DEDICATION I would like to dedicate
Page 11 and 12: CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Backgrou
Page 13 and 14: Harvey, 1997). However, the study o
Page 15 and 16: take over management of the Knights
Page 17 and 18: “to be New Zealand’s leading pa
Page 19 and 20: transparency and receptivity to lea
Page 21 and 22: CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Int
Page 23 and 24: To summarise this section, transfer
Page 25 and 26: separated into internal and externa
Page 27 and 28: least some form face-to-face contac
Page 29 and 30: experiences with a view to improvin
Page 31 and 32: are amongst the most important fact
Page 33 and 34: Whether learning becomes self-susta
Page 35 and 36: alliance. Organisations with a pref
Page 37 and 38: uncontrolled access. Organisations
Page 39 and 40: additional factor influencing recep
Page 41 and 42: The rationale for this research was
Page 43: the organisation and the relationsh
Page 47 and 48: number of questions where developed
Page 49 and 50: interviews. Not only was there the
Page 51 and 52: The next section focussed on the se
Page 53 and 54: the opportunity to archive the data
Page 55 and 56: 3.4.4 Communication A major factor
Page 57 and 58: three determinants of learning deve
Page 59 and 60: the type of organisation but not th
Page 61 and 62: CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS 4.1. Introductio
Page 63 and 64: een one of the factors that had res
Page 65 and 66: Interestingly NSO3 made this commen
Page 67 and 68: some duplication, then, there’s c
Page 69 and 70: [I]t’s mainly the management, but
Page 71 and 72: Other participants supported this b
Page 73 and 74: [the sport] in the country. And tha
Page 75 and 76: communication, April 18, 2008). Thi
Page 77 and 78: [W]e’ll come back from the intern
Page 79 and 80: [PSF1], and [PSF2] and ... the owne
Page 81 and 82: When probed further as to why this
Page 83 and 84: In certain areas the NSO1 thought i
Page 85 and 86: However in an unusual move, likely
Page 87 and 88: Since I’ve come on board, and cer
Page 89 and 90: obviously doing it. So on that leve
Page 91 and 92: PSF6 also reiterated this, wanting
Page 93 and 94: with them, you never know what you
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the answer: I think as I said, we
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access....so, in return for univers
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important.....we’re opening up ou
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It was clear that there had been so
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When questioned about who was the t
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We have three full time coaches her
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wanting to know more, I guess, yes,
Page 109 and 110:
CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION 5.1 Introducti
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Both organisations are collaboratin
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Hamel’s (1991) study that argued
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financial issues. However one parti
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5.4 Receptivity of Organisations in
Page 119 and 120:
5.5 Future Research There are a num
Page 121 and 122:
REFERENCES Alexander, T., Thibault,
Page 123 and 124:
Contractor, F. J., & Lorange, P. (2
Page 125 and 126:
Inkpen, A. C. (2002). Learning, kno
Page 127 and 128:
New Zealand Companies Office. (2008
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Tsang, E. W. K., & Kwan, K.-M. (199
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Area Research Question Appendix 1:
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Appendix 2: AUTEC Ethical Approval
Page 135 and 136:
Appendix 3: Participant Information
Page 137 and 138:
How do I agree to participate in th
Page 139 and 140:
Appendix 4: Participant Consent For
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