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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

Value creation through enriched marketing–operations interfaces: an empirical study in the printed circuit board industry

TL;DR: A field study involving 10 firms in the printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing industry was used to develop a conceptual framework and measures of the constructs of the MOI, finding support for the proposed relationship between MOI effectiveness and customer value.
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Reverse e‐auctions and supplier‐buyer relationships: an exploratory study

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the reverse auction phenomenon in the UK packaging sector and find that while buyers are reaping significant short-term price reductions, the benefits to suppliers are less obvious.
Journal ArticleDOI

Testing and classifying vehicle dispatching rules in three real-world settings

TL;DR: It appears that there is a clear difference in average load waiting time between the different dispatching rules in the different environments, and it is shown that using little pre-arrival information of loads leads to a significant improvement in the performance of the dispatches without changing their performance ranking.
Journal ArticleDOI

A population of learners: A new way to measure organizational learning

TL;DR: An approach that enables managers to systematically describe patterns of skill learning in large populations of front-line workers and fits individualized learning curves to the work performance histories of every member of a population is described.
Journal ArticleDOI

Costing customer value: an approach for the agile enterprise

TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the operational cost environment of organizations seeking to attain agility and define the inter-enterprise activities required to support the provision of total solution systems for customers.
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).