國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
16
CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4.1 Case Background
The tourism industry is emerging in response to an increasing number of people interested in engaging in leisure activities. However, the tourism industry is dominated by SMEs (OECD, 2008). SMEs are usually limited by their resources, rendering it difficult for them to meet customer expectations and deliver better service quality. In this context, we have conducted our research in the tourism industry.
Our research subjects are all based in the Yilan County Mt. Pillow Leisure Agriculture Area. The SMEs in this area include, among others, bed and breakfasts (B&B), farms, orchards and restaurants. Because each SME has different and limited resources, it is difficult for them to meet diverse customer demands if they run their business on their own. To offer customers more activities to participate or more sites to visit, some SMEs have formed simple collaborations in an ad-hoc manner.
We implemented the case study methodology for this research. We chose to conduct interviews with eight case firms providing a range of services. A1 is a B&B with a part-time host. A2 is a medium-sized sightseeing orchard. A3 is a small wholesaler of Chinese snacks that intends to transform into a DIY provider where customers will make their own snacks. A4 is a successful B&B that has been cited by some popular Taiwanese dramas. A5 and A6 are B&Bs that rent their spare rooms to more or less support their family. A7 is a leisure farm growing white michelia, and the new host only recently began renting the farm from the original proprietor and is trying to add new services and products. A8 is a leisure farm growing bamboo shoots, but its main source of revenue is its well-known organic restaurant. Because the SMEs at Mt. Pillow Leisure Agriculture Area have not yet created a unified IT-enabled collaborative platform, we extended the target platform to whatever can provide a channel for SMEs to obtain information, directly communicate and interact, and engage in collaboration with customers and other SMEs. The IT-enabled collaborative platforms we considered were, among others, blogs, guestbooks, and social networking websites. The descriptions of eight SMEs and IT collaborative platforms they used are shown in Table 4-1.
In our research, we aim to determine which types of SMEs tend to engage in IT-enabled collaboration. We are also interested in determining whether SMEs can enhance their performance though collaboration using these platforms. The results of
‧
this research can help IT operators target the appropriate SMEs with specific resources and have more compelling reasons with which to promote collaborative platforms.
No Category Description IT collaborative
platform used
A1 B&B A SME that provides customers with accommodations and homemade products.
Blog Facebook Guestbook
A2 Orchard A SME that provides customers with orchard for fruit picking and DIY experiencing.
Blog Facebook Guestbook
A3 Restaurant
A SME that makes a variety of Chinese snacks and intend to transform into DIY experiencing which will be available few months after.
Blog
A4 B&B
A SME is known for Taiwanese trendy drama filming location that provides accommodations with high-class facilities and natural landscapes of Mt. Pillow.
Facebook Guestbook
A5 B&B
A SME that provides customers with home-feel accommodations, natural landscapes of Mt. Pillow beside, orchard in the backyard, and DIY experiencing.
Blog Facebook Guestbook
A6 B&B
A SME that provides customers with accommodations and an overlook of the natural landscapes at top of the Mt. Pillow in the backyard.
A7 Farm
A SME that provides customers with magnolia garden for visiting, DIY experiencing, and related products.
Blog Facebook
A8 Farm A SME that provides all kind of bamboo shoots DIY experiencing, meals, and related activities. Blog
Table 4-1 Detail of Eight Cases
‧
4.2 Data Collection
The primary data sources were face-to-face interviews conducted from April 2012 to May 2012. To gain research insights, we designed semi-constructed questions based on our research framework. Basically, we conducted two interviews of each case. The first of these interviews focused on SMEs’ background, products and services, and the second focused on their resources, IT capabilities and other information related to our research. Each interview lasted approximately one hour to ensure a thorough survey.
All interviews were recorded, and all sessions were transcribed before the data analysis. To ensure the internal validity, external validity, construct validity and reality of the case study, we applied Yin’s (2003) case study techniques to our research (shown in Table 4-2). The analyzed results of our interview framework are summarized in the next chapter.
Tests
Case Study Tactic and the phase in which tactic occurs (Yin, 2003)
Implementation in this study
Internal validity
Conduct an
explanation-building in data analysis phase
We conducted a cross-case analysis in our multiple-case study and a series of iterative work to examine the
framework.
External validity
Use replication logic in multiple cases in research design phase
We developed our research framework to process the 8 cases in order to test external validity of our hypothesis.
Construct validity
Use multiple sources of evidence in data collection phase
The primary data were collected via interviews. Other information from cases’ own websites, governmental promoting DMs were also considered as important data sources.
Reality
Use case study protocol in data collection phase
We used semi-structured guide to all interviews. The guide were included several open questions that allowed participants to flexibly response.
Table 4-2 Validities and Realities Tests