essential-guide-to-qualitative-in-organizational-research

172 –––––––––– QUALITATIVE METHODS IN ORGANIZATION STUDIES ––––––––––––––––––At this point I decided that it might be wise to obey Glaser and Strauss’ (1967) injunction,regarding the application of the constant comparative method, to use the library to furtherdevelop what Blumer has called ‘sensitizing concepts’ or suggestions of ‘directions in whichto look’ (1954: 7). While there were a variety of ideal-type categorizations of shop stewards’roles available, it was the one provided by Marchington and Armstrong (1983) which appearedmost helpful for sensitizing concepts regarding shop stewards’ roles, especially since it haddeveloped out of a critique of earlier models (for example, Batstone et al., 1977). Their fourfoldtaxonomy of role ideal types is illustrated by Figure 14.3 below.According to Marchington and Armstrong (1983) the ‘leader’ is highly committed to tradeunionism and espouses wider political aims such as socialism or workers’ control. In this s/heis willing and able to lead members. In contrast the ‘populist’ is neither committed to tradeunionism and its wider political aims nor leading members, rather his/her role is perceivedas the ‘mouthpiece’ or ‘spokesperson’ of constituents. ‘Workgroup leaders’ shared thisparochialism, but they display strong leadership over constituents by agenda setting withreference to what they define as being in the best interests of their particular members. Finallythe ‘cautious supporter’ was identified as a more transient role, containing various people whoshared a wider commitment to trade unionism but were extremely cautious since they alsoperceived their role as being a delegate mandated by members. The potential for role conflictand ambiguity made this ideal type a stopping off point prior to a move into the ‘populist’of ‘leader’ roles.Senior stewards re-visited – the search for unique casefeaturesArmed with the sensitizing concepts developed out of both primary and secondary data, Ireturned to the field with the aim of elucidating their status as case features. This entailed ashift from describing informants’ accounting orientations to explaining their occurrencethrough exploration of their perceptions of their roles as senior stewards and their definitionsof and commitment towards trade unionism. This entailed more structure during interactionso as to direct dialogue towards the themes identified as potential unique case features. Thisprogressive focusing was facilitated by grounding each second interview in the informants’frames of reference and terminology elicited in the prior round of interviews. The increasingcomplexity of the comparative analysis of emergent case features sometimes necessitatedRepresentativeDelegateOrientationto UnionismHighLowLEADERWORK GROUPLEADERCAUTIOUSSUPPORTERPOPULISTFigure 14.3Shop stewards’ rolesSource: adapted from Marckington and Armstrong, 1983: 42 (with permission)