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Qualitative research for international business

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Abstract

Qualitative research in international business has been rare, the main research streams of the field relying more on quantitative methods. This paper first outlines why qualitative research has been scant. It then presents areas, such as theory building, where qualitative research could make a substantial contribution. Third, it reviews approaches to high standards of qualitative research and criteria for evaluating qualitative research. Finally, some possible research areas where qualitative research might prove fruitful are suggested.

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Notes

  1. A parallel may be drawn here with the transitory role of the “International Division” in US multinational companies: when the attention of the business divisions was primarily home-centric (US-centric) international divisions provided a countervailing power, bringing management attention to international markets. Once a company internationalized, international divisions were disbanded, business divisions became “global”, but attention often remained or reverted to being home-centric.

  2. Of course, the boundaries between qualitative and quantitative research can at times be fuzzy, for instance around text analysis or in quantitative analysis of case data, such as in the chronology of events.

  3. Christopher Bartlett is one of the very few researchers in IB to have explicitly combined the development of research cases and teaching cases in a joint effort. For instance, cumulatively, the whole stream of cases on Procter and Gamble he wrote over a number of years constitutes a set of very insightful snapshots of the internationalization process of a major multinational (P&G, Vizir, Ariel Ultra, SKII). Together with Sumantra Ghoshal, who was the theory builder where Bartlett was the empiricist, they contributed significantly to our understanding of multinational companies.

  4. The risk of communicating evidence via teaching cases is obvious: under the appearance of a story a teaching case usually contains a strong theoretical or conceptual hidden structure it is designed to surface, illustrate and communicate in a pedagogical process.

  5. One cannot help but recall a revealing anecdote. American researchers studying the aircraft industry had a long day of hard research interviews in a windowless meeting room at Boeing, surviving on coffee and snacks. The same research team, upon flying to Toulouse, France, to meet Airbus management, was taken directly to a three star restaurant around noon and treated to a lavish lunch. Finally, around four in the afternoon, one of the researchers asked the seniormost Airbus executive about going to his office and having the interview, to which the befuddled executives retorted “Oh, we had quite a long interview over lunch, didn't we? Let me take you back to the airport”. At that point the researchers deeply regretted having exchanged opening their note pads for several glasses of wine! Their memory was blurry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INSEAD, Boulevard de Constance, Fontainebleau Cedex, France

    Yves Doz

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  1. Yves Doz
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Accepted by Rosalie Tung, Area Editor, 24 February 2011. This paper was single-blind reviewed. It has been with the author for one revision.

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Doz, Y. Qualitative research for international business. J Int Bus Stud 42, 582–590 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2011.18

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