Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods for International Business: (Research Handbooks in Business and Management series)

This innovative Handbook draws together and reflects on the specific methodological challenges that an international business scholar is likely to face when undertaking a qualitative research project. With a practical, hands-on approach to methodological debates, the Handbook raises concerns specific to international business scholars. Covering the entire life cycle of a research project from its philosophical underpinnings to publication hurdles, the book explores existing practices and gives voice to multiple, even contrasting perspectives. This invaluable source of experiential knowledge, as well as conceptual understanding, has been achieved by a truly international authorship. Including fascinating vignettes written by senior academics, the result is a guide that will be indispensable. Capturing the experiences and practices of qualitative researchers, the Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods for International Business should be on the bookshelves of students and scholars of IB, researchers in international management and marketing, and teachers of cross-cultural and IB research methods.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Vignette: Observations from a Lifetime of Interviewing Jean J. Boddewyn Foreword Peter J. Buckley Vignette: Interviews: A Key Data Source in International Business Research Arvind Parkhe PART I: TRENDS AND PROSPECTS IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS RESEARCH Vignette: Theory is not Reality Jan Johanson 1. Qualitative Research Methods in International Business: The State of the Art Rebecca Marschan-Piekkari and Catherine Welch 2. Empirical Research in International Management: A Critique and Future Agenda Richard B. Peterson 3. Towards a Postcolonial Research Paradigm in International Business and Comparative Management Robert Westwood 4. Hermeneutic Methodology and International Business Research Niels G. Noorderhaven PART II: CASE STUDY RESEARCH Vignette: The Many Skills of the Case Researcher Robert W. Scapens 5. Designing and Conducting Case Studies in International Business Research Pervez Ghauri 6. The Architecture of Multiple Case Study Research in International Business Pieter Pauwels and Paul Matthyssens 7. The Role of Negative Personal Experiences in Cross-cultural Case Study Research: Failure or Opportunity? Karen Grisar-Kassé 8. First Put in the Sugar, Then the Eggs . . . Or the Other Way Round? Mixing Methods in International Business Research Leila Hurmerinta-Peltomäki and Niina Nummela PART III: INTERVIEWING IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS RESEARCH Vignette: Getting the Ear of the Minister Henry Wai-chung Yeung 9. Interview Studies in International Business Research John D. Daniels and Mark V. Cannice 10. Improvisation and Adaptation in International Business Research Interviews Ian Wilkinson and Louise Young 11. Language and Languages in Cross-cultural Interviewing Rebecca Marschan-Piekkari and Cristina Reis 12. Interviewing in the Multinational Corporation: Challenges of the Organisational Context Rebecca Marschan-Piekkari, Catherine Welch, Heli Penttinen and Marja Tahvanainen 13. The Interview in International Business Research: Problems We Would Rather Not Talk About Stuart Macdonald and Bo Hellgren PART IV: ALTERNATIVE METHODS AND METHODOLOGIES Vignette: Seeing and Experiencing Culture Mary Yoko Brannen 14. The Ethnographic International Business Researcher: Misfit or Trailblazer? Malcolm Chapman, Hanna Gajewska-De Mattos and Christos Antoniou 15. The Relevance of Ethnography to International Business Research Diana Rosemary Sharpe 16. Interpreting the International Firm: Going Beyond Interviews Hans De Geer, Tommy Borglund and Magnus Frostenson 17. Critical Discourse Analysis as a Methodology for International Business Studies Eero Vaara and Janne Tienari PART V: RESEARCHING OUTSIDE THE TRIAD Vignette: Eating Alone and Other Experiences Russell Belk 18. Contextualising Fieldwork: Reflections on Conducting Research in Eastern Europe Snejina Michailova 19. Conducting Qualitative Research in Vietnam: Ethnography, Grounded Theory and Case Study Research Nancy K. Napier, Suzanne Hosley and Thang Van Nguyen 20. The Role of Culture in Conducting Trustworthy and Credible Qualitative Business Research in China Giana M. Eckhardt 21. An Outsider in India Elisabeth M. Wilson 22. The Rhythms of Latin America: A Context and Guide for Qualitative Research Victoria Jones PART VI: FROM ANALYSIS TO PUBLICATION Vignette: Against Today’s Fashion: Experiences from the ‘Review Front’ Dirk Matten 23. Ensuring Validity in Qualitative International Business Research Poul Houman Andersen and Maria Anne Skaates 24. Computer-assisted Qualitative Data Analysis: Application in an Export Study Valerie J. Lindsay 25. Writing About Methods in Qualitative Research: Towards a More Transparent Approach Tatiana Zalan and Geoffrey Lewis 26. ‘Writing it Up’: The Challenges of Representation in Qualitative Research Sara L. McGaughey 27. Getting Published: The Last Great Hurdle? Denice E. Welch and Lawrence S. Welch 28. Publishing Qualitative Research in International Business Julian Birkinshaw Vignette: Case Studies in Construction: Recollections of an Accidental Researcher Stewart R. Clegg Index

About the Author :
Edited by Rebecca Piekkari, Marcus Wallenberg Chair of International Business, Department of Management Studies, Aalto University, School of Business, Finland and Catherine Welch, Chair of Strategic Management, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Review :
"'This is a volume which will be immensely helpful to younger scholars working on IB related topics. It contains valuable insights on a whole range of qualitative research techniques written by experienced practitioners. I commend it unreservedly. It deserves the widest possible circulation.' - John H. Dunning, University of Reading, UK and Rutgers University, US; 'This edited book on qualitative research methods in international business is probably the most comprehensive of all in its genre. Contributors to this volume are seasoned researchers who share not only difficulties and hidden pitfalls in qualitative research but also the joy of gaining richer - sometimes unexpected - insights into cultural and managerial issues transcending national boundaries than traditional quantitative research would uncover. It is a must read for all researchers in international business research.' - Masaaki Kotabe, Temple University, US; 'The editors and authors are to be commended for an engaging, useful and thought provoking end product which will be read with pleasure (and I hope will provoke some anger too) and will be a useful guidebook. It is my hope that this book will stimulate more, and better research in the international business field.' - From the foreword by Peter J. Buckley, University of Leeds, UK; 'This is an excellent book on an important topic, namely how to conduct qualitative research in international business. It is a great collection of thoughtful chapters written by scholars that have themselves struggled with all the problems in conducting qualitative research. The book is obviously filling a gap in the literature on methodology in international business and it is a must for Ph.d. students and other researchers considering conducting qualitative research. The book deserves to be widely read and carefully studied.' - Torben Pedersen, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark; 'A significant and timely addition to the literature on qualitative research methods in international business. The volume contains a wide yet integrated range of contributions from well-known authors. The book will be of major value to qualitative researchers because of its approach which is both academic and experience-based; and its coverage which includes important but frequently ignored topics such as "Researching outside the Triad", as well as contributions on case study research, interviewing, alternative methodologies and getting published.' - Stephen Young, University of Strathclyde, UK"