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Open AccessJournal ArticleDOI

Qualitative case studies in operations management: Trends, research outcomes, and future research implications

Mark Barratt, +2 more
- 01 May 2011 - 
- Vol. 29, Iss: 4, pp 329-342
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TLDR
In many of the qualitative case studies reviewed, sufficient details in research design, data collection, and data analysis were missing and there was a lack of consistency in the way the case method has been applied.
Citations
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Renaissance of case research as a scientific method

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe three distinct methodological accounts of case study: theory generation, theory testing, and theory elaboration, and argue that each approach has its own idiosyncrasies, in particular when it comes to the interplay between theory and empirics.
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Qualitative Case Study Guidelines

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss methodological problems associated with qualitative case-based research and offer guidelines for overcoming them, and some modifications to the dependencies between the six case study stages are suggested.
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Blockchain applications in supply chains, transport and logistics : a systematic review of the literature

TL;DR: A systematic review of the literature finds four main clusters in the co-citation analysis, namely Technology, Trust, Trade, and Traceability/Transparency, and discusses the emerging themes and applications of blockchains for supply chains, logistics and transport.
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Sustainable supply chain management: framework and further research directions

TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue for the use of Total Interpretive Structural Modeling (TISM) in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) and propose a framework that extrapolates SSCM drivers and their relationships.
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Toward a Theory of Multi-Tier Supply Chain Management

TL;DR: In this paper, a theoretical development of multi-tier supply chain management by adopting an inductive case study research design is proposed, which is based on the case studies, propositions are built concerning how MSCs operate, and the results show the impact that the dynamics of the MSC have on power balance, structure, interdependence and relationship stability.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Multiple case studies of team effectiveness in manufacturing organizations

TL;DR: In a departure from past research, this article reported a qualitative study aimed at identifying factors in operational systems that influence team effectiveness, including work organized around the team's output, opportunities for informal communication, work that includes novel problems to solve, and management trust in teams.
Journal ArticleDOI

Competence and resource architectures

TL;DR: A justified, generic, pictorial architecture of the relationships between resources and competences within firms is produced and its value for managers in structuring competence performance improvement activities is discussed.
Journal Article

A case study - Characteristics of work organization in lean production and sociotechnical systems

TL;DR: In this article, the present and prospective situation of an automotive assembly shop was examined with respect to the concepts of lean production and sociotechnical systems, and the work organization was evaluated by means of four principles: of ''minimal critical specification'' which refers to the co-ordination mechanism that is used; the principle of ''boundaries'', which referred to the extent to which teams are autonomous; ''multifunctionality'' which has to do with the division of labour into small or whole tasks; and ''human values'", which deals with the way
Journal ArticleDOI

Volume Flexible Strategies in Health Services: A Research Framework

TL;DR: A research framework is developed that describes four volume flexible strategies based on literature reviews and structured field interviews of health care administrators at a Carnegie I research and teaching hospital to create a foundation to help guide future research on the important relationships between demand uncertainty,Volume flexible strategies, and organizational performance.
Journal ArticleDOI

Mix flexibility and volume flexibility in a build‐to‐order environment

TL;DR: An in‐depth case study involving a manufacturing plant and its supply chain suggests that a number of approaches typically used to increase volume flexibility, actually negatively affect mix flexibility and vice versa.
Frequently Asked Questions (9)
Q1. What contributions have the authors mentioned in the paper "Qualitative case studies in operations management: trends, research outcomes, and future research implications" ?

Boyer et al. this paper provide a review of the current state of qualitative case studies in the OM field. 

The authors then conclude by making suggestions for future research. 

Johnston et al. (1999) proposed three main requirements for using qualitative case studies for such confirmation purposes: (1) the case study must begin with an existing theory for the development of research hypotheses; (2) a systematic and logical research design should be followed; and (3) researchers should implement evaluation criteria to independently assess potential biases and to ensure the methodological rigor. 

The over-arching approach that has been proposed for thedeductive use of qualitative case studies is that of confirmation (or falsification) of the appropriateness of a theory ( Bonoma, 1985; Bryman, 1988; Johnston et al., 1999; Ross and Staw, 1993 ; Yin, 1994). 

Single case studies may be useful for longitudinal research (Narasimhan and Jayaram, 1998 ; Voss et al., 2002) and can be used if they are extreme exemplars or opportunities for unusual research access (Yin, 1994). 

Case studies are used primarily to develop new theories (e.g.,Benbasat et al., 1987; Gersick, 1988; Harris and Sutton, 1986 ; Van de Ven, 1989). 

These criticisms may have simply arisen from the lack of familiarity of qualitative methods (Bitektine, 2008 ; Roth, 2007); nevertheless, many researchers trained in positivist traditions have criticized theory-testing based on qualitative case studies on the grounds of “ambiguity of inferred hypotheses” and the “selective bias” (Bitektine, 2008: 161). 

Because the focus is on these patterns involving a priori determined constructs, there is less opportunity for making Type 1 error (i.e. false positive). 

All that the pattern matching requires is “a theoretical pattern of expected outcomes, an observed pattern of effects, and an attempt to match the two” (Trochim, 1989, p. 360).