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Invitation to Research

CASE STUDY: eBusiness Research

Roger Clarke, Xamax Consultancy, CanberraVisiting Professor, CSIS, Uni of Hong Kong

Visiting Fellow, Australian National University

http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/......Res /70-eBus.ppt

ebs, 16-20 January 2003

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Characteristics of e-Business‘New and Exciting’

• Youthfulness (although no longer ‘virgin territory’ or ‘a green-fields site’)

• Rapid Change• Hype-Quotient• Casino-Mentality / dot.com fervour

(now given way to dot.bomb negativity?)• Inevitable Turkey-Factor

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Characteristics of e-Business Instability of the Phenomena

• Rapid Change in:• Technologies and Processes• Applications• Participant Behaviour• Perceptions of Need

• Rates of Change still increasing• Directions of Change multiplying• To date, Limited Convergence, Maturation

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Characteristics of e-Business ‘Additional Confounding

Variables’

• Geographical Unboundedness• Cultural Variation• Ill-Definedness of Cultural

Boundaries

All compounded by Cultural Ignorance

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The Practice of e-Business ResearchThe Audience(s)

• Other Researchers• Research Grants Organisations

• Technology / Process Developers• User Organisations• Policy Workers• Investors

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Research in e-BusinessWhat Sponsoring Audiences Want

• New Technologies / Processes• Understanding About Them• Profit• The ‘Right’ Answers

or at least not the ‘wrong’ ones• The Right Motivation, Foci, Outcomes

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Intrumentalist Research in eBusiness

Alternative Foci• Technology / Process

What is it?• Applications

What do I do with it?• Adoption, Impediments

How can I make sure it gets used?• Impact

What are/will be first-order effects?• Implications

What are/will be its second-order effects?

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e-Business Research 1993-2000• 38 papers in the leading 'issues' journal, plus

37 in 5 selected (non-EC) research journals• in the issues journal:

• 25 theory, 1 survey, 8 case studies, 4 field studies

• in the 5 research journals:• 10 theory

11 surveys, 3 interviews, 14 case studies, 1 field study

• EDI as subject-matter:• 16 / 37 in the research journals• 0 / 38 in the issues journal

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Common Problems – Methods• Convenience Reference Theories applied unquestioningly

• Rogers’ innovation diffusion theory• Hofstede’s cultural factors theory• Williamson’s transaction costs theory

• Semi-structured interviews masquerade as case studies• Lone Cases, Shallow Cases, Pseudo-Cases• Consultancy as [Action] Research • Surveys are used as the sole technique even when:

• in-depth information is needed as well• in-depth information is needed instead

• Over-surveyed populations avoid responding

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Common Problems – Surveys

• Unclear Survey Objectives, and Survey Design Generally• Unclear Definition of Population, Sampling Frame, Sample• Convenience Samples, and Proxies instead of Principals• Principal-Agent Problem Uncontrolled (Unappreciated?)• Respondent Diversity Enormous and Uncontrolled• Highly Ambiguous Terminology Differentially Interpreted• Lists of ‘Likert or not’ Data, Masquerading as Information• Response-Rate Too Low• Response-Count Too Low• Non-Response Bias Inadequately Considered

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Common Problems – Survey Questions (Foddy)

• Answers to factual questions are often wrong• What Respondents say and do are often different• Respondents’ attitudes and opinions are unstable• Small changes in wording can produce major changes in

the distibution of responses• Respondents commonly misinterpret questions• The sequence of questions affects answers• The sequence of options affects answers• Open-ended and closed-ended ways of asking the same

question elicit different results• Many respondents who don’t know answer anyway • Cultural context affects answers

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e-Business ResearchCommon Problems – Research

Management• Inadequate Relevance to attract industry funding• Inadequate Resourcing to achieve the aims:

• Researcher Time• Supervisor Time• Travel Costs• Infrastructure Costs• Support Staffing

• Inadequate Timeframe:• grant request, grant, candidate search, candidate prep• time-variant phenomena demand longitudinal study

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e-Business ResearchPopulation Stratification –

BUSINESS

• The Mythical ‘SME’:• Micro-Enterprises (0-3 employees)• Small Business Enterprises (3 - 20/100/200)• Medium-Sized Business Enterprises (on up to

500)

• Large Business Enterprises (500 - 5,000)

• Conglomerates, Multinational Corporations (MNCs)

• Independent Business Units (µ, S, M, L)

• Virtual Business Enterprises (‘Dynamic Networks’)

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e-Business ResearchPopulation Stratification –

GOVERNMENT

• By Function:• Service Delivery:

• Insourced• Outsourced

(Purchaser/Provider)• Regulatory• Policy

• By Level:• Supra-National• National• Regional / State

/ Province / Land / Canton / ...

• Local

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e-Business ResearchPopulation Stratification NON-PROFIT / NOT-FOR-

PROFITS

• Industry Associations (industry sector)• Chambers of Commerce (regional)• Labour Unions

• Charities

• Co-operatives (economic purpose)• Community Associations (P&C, Sport,

etc.)

• ...

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Non-Empirical Research TechniquesA Taxonomy (8)

• Review of Existing Literature• ‘Scholarship’• Conceptual Research

(Contemplative, ‘Armchair’)

• Futurism, especially Delphi Rounds• Scenario-Building• Game-Playing or Role-Playing• Analytical and Simulation Modelling

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Scientific Research Techniques A Taxonomy (3+5)

• Laboratory Experimentation• Field Experimentation and

Quasi-Experimental Designs• Forecasting• ...

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Interpretivist Research Techniques A Taxonomy (5+5)

• Descriptive/Interpretive• Focus Group• Action Research• Ethnographic Research• Grounded Theory• ...

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Research Techniques at the Boundary ofScientific and Interpretivist Research

A Taxonomy (5)

• Field Study• Questionnaire-Based

Survey• Interview-Based Survey• Case Study• Secondary Research

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Engineering Research Techniques

A Taxonomy (5)

• Construction of an Artefact• Conception (based on a body of theory)• Design / Creation / Prototyping /

Testing• Application

• Destruction of an Artefact• Testing• Application

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e-Business Research Particularly Suitable Research

Techniques

• Field Study / Observation / Case Studiescomplemented by Documents, Interviews, small Surveys

• Laboratory Experimentation:• Prototype Development• Prototype Usage • Product Usage, but by Real People, not Proxies

• Field Experimentation:• Metricated Trial Applications

• Surveys of tightly-defined and -segmented populations

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Research in e-Business Concluding Observations

• A Research Domain, not a Discipline• In need of the insights of multiple disciplines• Ill-served by existing bodies of theory• Breadth and depth are both needed, but

holism and integration are very challenging• A Research Method generally requires several

complementary Research Techniques• Relevance as Objective; Rigour as Constraint• ‘Technology’, Apps, Implications and Policy