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

52 –––––––––– QUALITATIVE METHODS IN ORGANIZATION STUDIES ––––––––––––––––––What was the situation with your (business) partner at this time?Are those figures turnover figures?The interviewer continued to use probes related both to the details of the situation beingdescribed, and, to the central theme (business development) being discussed. For example,Do you want to make a lot of money?So all these ideas and the running of your business – what’s it all for?About halfway through the interview, evidence that a relaxed relationship of trust had beenestablished was shown in this quip by the interviewer: ‘So what do you do when you’re notworking – apart from cutting the grass and hitting Bill?’ Laughter ensued and the interviewcontinued.Concluding the interview and taking care of ethical issuesTowards the latter stages of the interview, the discussion broadened out, and refocused brieflyon the present business. Owing to his (indeed the whole family’s) dire experiences during thefailure of the previous businesses, a new business was set up using the latest technology andavoided as far as possible dependence on others. The interview was concluded on a lightheartednote.The key ethical issues were ensuring that all persons and details were sufficiently welldisguised to assure anonymity. In the project as a whole the question of whether the businessowner or the couple should be interviewed together or separately, or indeed whether tointerview only the business owner and not include the spouse, was addressed. It was decidedthat where a spouse was involved in the business in some capacity, then it was appropriate thatthey be included in a joint interview. In the case being presented, both spouses wereinterviewed together. Indeed, although the daughter was not present, her feelings werediscussed as being relevant to the judgement to restructure business activities in such a wayas to minimize the impact on the family.Detailed examination of the incidents: partnership and fraudBernard and Bill had worked together before but not as business partners. Initially a reputablefirm of accountants bungled the setting up of the business partnership. Subsequently Bill’sperformance came under question as he tried to switch his attention from one business toanother. Turnover dropped and Bill was offered a managing directorship with anothercompany. ‘So now he was leaving the ship’. He was given a two year contract with thecompany which according to Bernard, he then. . . decided he would do a management buy-out . . . Up until then he’d felt rather guiltyabout the state he’d left us in and we were really backs against the wall. And he thencame on the phone drunk at night wanting the remainder of his money. But we’d paidhim back and starved ourselves of cash . . . and the next thing that occurred . . . we think[was that] he’d been to bed with the manageress and as a result of that seven of themwere involved in fraud . . . we had the police in . . . But they couldn’t prove who’d actuallydone it the result was seven members of staff left, and we lost two and a half thousandpounds worth of turnover . . . So now we’d got losses [in all three businesses] . . . that’s