Innovations in Qualitative Methods For Organizational Behavior and Human Resources Management

Abstract

The use of qualitative methods in organizational behavior and human resource management research has attracted increasing attention. Indeed, qualitative methods provide effective tools and rich data for understanding complex, implicit, and subtle organizational phenomena and relationships. Yet, those new to qualitative research, especially those trained in a strict quantitative approach, are often puzzled by its methodological principles and specific operations in practice. This symposium brings together four presentations that highlight innovative qualitative techniques and their applications to organizational behavior and human resource (OBHR) management topics. The first presentation extends the application of repertory grid interview and aggregative analysis to the development of group constructs (e.g., work performance). The second presentation suggests the use of innovative interview structures, which assists qualitative researchers to cultivate trust and gain richer data when exploring obscurities and darkness in organizations. The third presentation tackles the conceptual confusion regarding theoretical saturation and proposes a new approach to detecting saturation. The last presentation focuses on video ethnography strategies and demonstrates a video ethnographic study on top management team dynamics and their strategic decision making. This symposium aims to offer OBHR researchers insights into up-to-date qualitative techniques with hopes of enhancing the quality of OBHR research using qualitative method. Doing Video Ethnography in Top Management Team Strategic Decision Making Research Presenter: Feng Liu; Warwick Business School Presenter: Sally Maitlis; U. of Oxford Theoretical Saturation in Qualitative Research: Insights from Quantitative Methods and Engineering Presenter: Xiaoxi Chang; Queen's School of Business, Canada Presenter: Silvia Bonaccio; Telfer School of Management, U. of Ottawa Presenter: Francois Chiocchio; Telfer School of Management, U. of Ottawa Presenter: Fanqi Kong; U. of Ottawa Aggregative Analysis of Repertory Grid Interviews to Examine Shared Understanding? Presenter: Céline Rojon; U. of Edinburgh Business School Presenter: Mark N. K. Saunders; U. of Surrey Presenter: Almuth McDowall; Birkbeck College The Eight-Hour Interview Presenter: Brett Crawford; U. of Pittsburgh