Abstract
In this Chapter, the author lays out the empirical methodology of this study. Explaining the overall empirical setting while connecting it to the theory section, the author provides an in-depth overview of the single case used, as well as the German Federal Armed Forces as the surrounding organization. In the section on the research design, the author explains why a grounded theory approach is used. Afterward, the author explains how data is collected and analyzed. This section provides a detailed and in-depth, step by step guide on conducting qualitative empirical research. It can be of great value for young scholars to understand this particular method's dos and don'ts.
“Rejecting all organs of information, therefore, but my senses, I rid myself of the Pyrrhonisms with which an indulgence in speculations hyperphysical and antiphysical so uselessly occupy and disquiet the mind. A single sense may indeed be sometimes deceived, but rarely: and never all our senses together, with their faculty of reasoning.”
– Thomas Jefferson in a Letter to Thomas Law in 1814 (Van Order, 1982: 26)
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Notes
- 1.
We discussed this topic with about 100 top executives ranking brigadier general (or their civilian equivalent) or higher and with about 500 executives from their immediate staffs ranking usually colonel or lieutenant colonel (or their civilian equivalent). The overwhelming majority of these executives had a positive or very positive attitude toward communities of practice with only a handful exceptions. Although they were not familiar with the term community of practice, they immediately understood that we were interested in informal networks within the organization and quickly connected this to their many experiences of such informal practices. There is actually an own expression in the FAF called “Der Obergefreitendienstweg” which very roughly translates to “using the enlisted-soldiers channel”, thus, being similar to the expression of cutting through the red tape.
- 2.
I use a specific coding structure as I separate the scientific references used in the theory section or for the interpretation and discussion from the sources used in the empirical case. The latter are listed in the appendix. Official sources (e.g., White Papers, official brochures, or websites) are indicated by the number “III” while all other sources (e.g., books, newspaper articles, or papers) are indicated by the number “I”. After this initial number follows a second number indicating the position in the appendix. In the current example the number I/105: 481 indicates a source other than official documents is used, that it is at position 105 in the appendix and the quote used is from page 481.
- 3.
For confidentiality reasons I am using synonyms; see in the sections below.
- 4.
For security reasons I am not able to provide the exact name and region. This information is only available directly from the author. At this point I would like to call to attention, that some information obtained during this investigation is not free for release to the public. Hence, I have to anonymize some descriptions. As will be described, this also influences the data gathering, as I had to look for open access sources that would state similar information some informants provided but did not want me to release as connected to them.
- 5.
None of the informants recalled any resources or practices in place before the era of out of area missions started. In order to confirm these reports I collected and analyzed all strategic documents (White Paper, Defense Policy Guidelines, and Conceptions of Military Services like Army, Navy, etc.), reports from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces of the German Bundestag, and (scientific as well as popular scientific) books and papers regarding this transition toward a culture capability. There are no hints at all regarding the time before 1990 and strong hints regarding the timeframe chosen for this study.
- 6.
Although I would strongly challenge such an assumption. If we are considering organizations like Aldi or Walmart, we would find even stronger hierarchies.
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Andresen, F. (2021). Empirical Methodology. In: Exploring Meso-Level Dynamic Capabilities to Address the Capability Rigidity Paradox. Forschungs-/Entwicklungs-/Innovations-Management. Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-32006-5_3
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