Study Design

3.2.1 Participants

1 Grounded Theory is a general research method (often conducted in qualitative research) for social sciences developed by the sociologists Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss. Grounded theory was derived from data, systematically gathered and analyzed through the research process. A researcher does not begin a project with preconceived theory in mind. Rather, the researcher begins with an area of study and allows the theory to emerge from the data (Strauss and Corbin 1998, p.12).

We interviewed salespeople and their contact windows (customers) who worked in the IT industry in order to obtain viewpoints from both sides. The reason why we focused on B2B context in the IT industry is that little attention has been given to this area. However, most of Taiwan’s industries have been transformed from labor-intensive ones to focus on industry of IT (information technology)². However, numerous studies concerned helping behavior have been devoted to the area of service industry rather than to the IT industry. Therefore, a total of fifteen pairs of salespeople and their customers in this area participated in the study. Most salespeople selected for the interviews had one to five year’s work experience. As I know, salespeople in the IT industry not only promote new products to buyers but they also help solve product problems for customers/engineers (users); therefore, interviews were conducted using three different perspectives (salespeople, buyers and users) in order to further explore the phenomenon of SHB. The respondents in this study were divided into two groups: customers (i.e., buyers and users) and salespeople. The interview data has been coded:

the 14 customer interviews are represented by C (C1-C14) and the 15 salesperson interviews

2 According to the Industry Development Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the IT (information

technology) industry mainly includes the computer hardware industry (include semiconductor and electronics components and parts ), the communication industry, the semiconductor industry, the photoelectricity industry, the networking ,the software service and digital content industry.

Labor-intensive industries have gradually been replaced by capital and technology-intensive industries, such as the production of chemicals, petrochemicals, information technology, electrical equipment, and electronics. The percentage of the total workforce employed in the industrial sector rose to a peak of 42.8 in 1987, and declined to 35.2 in 2002. Manufacturing output constituted over 92 percent of Taiwan's total industrial production.

Electronics and information technology have evolved into the mainstay of industry, and currently account for over 35 percent of the industrial structure.

http://english.www.gov.tw/Yearbook/index.jsp?categid=157&recordid=83304 http://www.moea.gov.tw/~ecobook/season/8912/q6-3-a1.htm#6

are represented by S (S1-S15).

3.2.2 Interview and Question Design

Interviews can be exploratory in nature and generate a great deal of detailed data, such as individual personal experience, feelings and viewpoint (Chi and Lin 2005) Therefore, an interview is an efficient way to provide researchers with opportunities to get specific information for the study of a new area. To facilitate the interview process, the questionnaires were sent to the interviewees before the interview. In this way, the interviewees could have sufficient time to recall their experiences and to organize their thoughts. During the interviews, a number of predetermined questions or related topics to probe the nature of SHB and to examine the answers’ reality were implemented. The semi-structured interviews were initially conducted according to the original order of the questions but subsequently this order was modified in the light of different scenarios. In this study, there are twelve interview questions in the questionnaire and they are as follows:

Questions for salespeople:

1. What kind of extra service have you provided for your customers?

2. What have you done to exceed your customers’ expectations?

3. What kind of work have you done to help your customers which is beyond your duties?

4. Describe what kind of task you will complete for your customers which is different to what other salespeople would do.

5. Have you had any experience with solving a customer’s personal problems?

6. How should good salespeople serve their customers?

7. Describe the current relationship between you and your customers?

Questions for customers:

1. What kind of extra service have salespeople provided for you?

2. What have salespeople done for you that have exceeded your expectations?

3. What is the most impressive and unforgettable service you have received from a salesperson?

4. Which kind of extra support offered by salespeople was the most satisfying?

5. How should good salespeople serve their customers?

6. What is the current relationship between you and your salespeople?

3.2.3 Data Collection

The interviews were mostly held in the interviewees’ workplaces, but it was necessary to conduct a few over the telephone. The workplace was the preferred venue because it allowed face-to-face contact. In order to understand the underpinnings of SHB, salespeople were asked to describe their helping behavior towards customers. Customers were also asked to describe SHB offered by their salespeople and to refer good salespeople who would then be contacted. Interviewing with both sides assists us to understand what customers consider the most helpful characteristics in salespeople.

In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted to acquire more details from both interviewed groups. As a result, individual interviews lasted an average of 45 minutes and were audio–taped. The interview process was conducted in Chinese in order to have efficient and clear communication. The personal information data was collected once the interview had been finished. Finally, after all the interviews completed, the data was transcribed, translated, and analyzed.