Qualitative Management Research Research Articles

Synthesizing qualitative insights: a meta-ethnography of tourism disaster management literature

Purpose Disasters can affect the important sector of tourism across the world. This study aims to combine qualitative findings from 13 publications to enhance disaster management plans for the security and resilience of the tourist industry. Design/methodology/approach The authors used Noblit and Hare’s seven-step meta-ethnography method, identifying 13 qualitative studies on tourism disaster management through extensive searches in key databases (WoS, Scopus and Google Scholar), meeting inclusion criteria. NVivo 12 aided in coding, translation and comprehension of related ideas. Findings Five interrelated and third-ordered conceptual categories were identified: extreme natural and malevolent events, lack of risk management and emerg+ency response, sustainable tourism, tourism resilience factors, disaster awareness and preparedness. Effective strategies demand collaboration, resource allocation and local engagement. Originality/value This study offers a novel synthesis of qualitative research in tourism disaster management, enhancing understanding of resilience in the industry. It provides unique insights on cross-cultural dynamics, stakeholder engagement and integrated strategies while showcasing the utility of meta-ethnography in business and management research.

Successful Qualitative Research in Agribusiness Management: Scope, Concepts and Steps

No abstract available

Using photographs in qualitative accounting research

Purpose: When the “linguistic turn” is replaced by the “visual turn”, there is a natural need for social scientists to embrace the new reality and incorporate visuals in their research. As a result, the importance of visual research, which centers on the use of visual sources, is growing. This paper provides an overview of how visual materials and related methodological approaches can be used in qualitative management and accounting research. Methodology/approach: We begin by reviewing the literature on the research methods, drawing from many disciplines such as sociology, organizational learning, management, and accounting. Next, we analyze three cases – already published papers in accounting – to illustrate how photography can be used in qualitative accounting research. Findings: There is a growing literature on visual research methods. Researchers have used visual materials as primary and secondary data and multiple methodological approaches. Visual methods can also be used in accounting research. Originality/value: This paper provides an overview of emerging methodological approaches that use visual materials and discusses how they can be incorporated into qualitative accounting research. Research limitations: Drawing a simple line between the various approaches presented in this paper is difficult as researchers can use visual material in unique ways throughout the research process. Therefore, the presented methodological categorizations can only help to better understand emerging visual research.

Path Constitution: Building Organizational Resilience for Sustainable Performance

Abstract Existing studies are not clear about the process of building organizational resilience that is crucial for the performance of firms. To tap into this still unexplored terrain, the aim of this qualitative study is to shed more light on how organizational resilience is built amid challenges from a perspective of path constitution. We present a single, longitudinal case study of the dynamic development of China Light & Textile Industry City Group, the leading textile trading platform operator in China. The results show that the process of organizations building resilience could be regarded as a process of organizational path constitution. Therefore, a theory model of the organizational resilience building was developed, which expanded the applicable scope of the path constitution theory. Further, this study deconstructed the mechanism of resilience building based on the interaction between opportunity space and organizational learning, which contributes to the organizational resilience literature and enriches the body of qualitative research in corporate management. Additionally, our findings provide practical implications for companies to maintain resilience and sustainable performance.

Matter and Method: The Quest for a New‐Materialist Methodology in Management Studies

AbstractThis paper offers methodological and theoretical contributions to the field of management at the so‐called ‘turn to matter’ postulated within new materialist perspectives. It discusses more‐than‐human perspectives in management research and provides some methodological directions to support new materialist empirical investigations. Theoretically grounded on new materialism and posthumanism, the paper applies the assemblage approach that focuses on understanding the redistribution of agency to the network of people, things and discourses. In developing three exemplars of assemblages, it shows how it is possible to methodologically encompass the entanglement of the material, the organic, the human and the more‐than‐human to explore a phenomenon such as working from home. The paper concludes by reflecting on what new materialist qualitative research in management could become in order to generate new ways of imagining management, organizations and working lives, as more‐than‐human entanglements.

How accounting research understands performativity: effects and processes of a multi-faceted notion

PurposeThis paper aims to review the literature on the use of the notion of performativity and its related concepts in accounting research. The literature uses the term performativity in almost diametrically different ways, yet most papers assume that the meaning of the term is self-evident. We build on recent reviews of the notion of performativity and explicate the implicit tensions in the accounting literature, discovering a need to clarify how the accounting literature has explored the processes – how accounting becomes performative – and effects – what is performed – of accounting performativity. The paper develops suggestions for future theoretical and empirical research.Design/methodology/approachThe authors have searched in six leading accounting journals (Accounting, Organizations and Society, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Management Accounting Research, Critical Perspectives on Accounting and Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management) for the terms “performativity” and/or “performative” and/or “performable”. This yielded 289 results from which we distilled a core sample of 92 papers which substantially draw on the concept and explicate their use of the term.FindingsThe authors find that the accounting literature has paid almost equal attention to the conforming and amplifying effects of performativity but has mostly explored how conditions of performativity are built. Less attention has been paid to how accounting generates multiple worlds and how differences in these worlds are coordinated by accounting. Building institutions and searching for accounting incompleteness have been developed as the two main processes where accounting is made performative.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper develops avenues for future research, highlighting the potential for a deeper understanding of how the notion of performativity can be used. We do not advocate homogenizing the literature, instead exploring its fruitful tensions to discover a renewed interest in how accounting is constitutive of existing and/or new worlds. We illustrate this potential by reflecting on the debates about accounting incompleteness and the boundaries of accounting. The authors also suggest the potentials for concepts of performativity in studying emerging phenomena such as big data and sustainability and revisiting the ethics of using accounting as a social and organizational practice.Originality/valueThe literature review explicates differences in the use of the term performativity, which usually remain implicit in the literature. The study develops a framework that attends to both the processes – problematizing the conditions for performativity or not – and effects – conforming and amplifying – of performativity accounting studies have drawn upon, which clarifies how the accounting literature has mobilized the notion of performativity and the contributions the accounting literature has added. Further, the authors extend Vosselman’s (2022) review both in scope and nuance.

Do researchers practice what they preach? An empirical analysis of evaluation criteria

In our project, we take part in the debate about evaluation criteria in qualitative management and organisational science (MOS) research. Since the use of quantitative research criteria to evaluate qualitative research, as well as specific theoretically derived qualitative criteria, has been criticised, we look at this topic from an empirical perspective. Based on a comprehensive analysis of 449 articles published from 2011 to 2021 in five top-tier MOS-journals (Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Management, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal), we analyse how researchers address the issues of rigor and quality. Focusing on the most common evaluation criteria in the articles (validity and trustworthiness), our results indicate that scholars use qualitative evaluation criteria in a pragmatic way. This shows that, in contrast to the epistemological and methodological differences in theoretically derived evaluation criteria, researchers apply similar techniques to ensure validity and trustworthiness. Given that we only had access to published articles demonstrating the state of the art of using evaluation criteria, the current use of evaluation criteria during the research process remains a ‘black box.’ Therefore, to uncover such implicit evaluation criteria, we suggest a follow-up interview study to gain a deeper understanding of this relevant ‘black box’. In doing so, we aim to explore the intentions and experiences of authors who published qualitative research in top-tier journals on the question, “How to deal with evaluation criteria in research practice as well as during the review process?”. As publishing articles in leading journals is very competitive, we argue that these criteria are mainly the outcome of institutional practices, such as the review process and editorial policies. Our follow-up interview study proposes a way to shed light not only on the explicitly mentioned criteria in published articles but also on the underlying implicit criteria in-use during the research process up to publication.

Storytelling as a Qualitative Approach for Organizational Management


 Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the role of storytelling as a qualitative approach in organizational management, focusing on the values and emotions conveyed through narratives. The research aims to explore the potential of storytelling to strengthen connections, support networks, and improve people's adaptability, while addressing the lack of coherence in this area.
 Design/Method/Approach: This study used a secondary research strategy.
 Findings: Throughout this study, the author makes the case that narrative is critical to effective organizational management and leadership. However, meaningful and creative in developing qualitative research in management is, the growth of story methods has resulted in a lack of consistency in the field.
 Theoretical Implications: The theoretical findings of this study emphasize the importance of competent organizational management and leadership in storytelling. This study emphasizes that storytelling is an important tool for communicating values and emotions, as well as for creating connections and support networks, exploring the function of narrative in management. The growing popularity of storytelling methods, however, also highlights the lack of consistency in this area. The study calls for further research into the relationship between storytelling and human adaptation, as well as the validity of storytelling as a methodology for qualitative management research. The results help to clarify the theoretical foundations of storytelling and its use in corporate situations.
 Practical Implications: Although literature acknowledges significantly emotional and psychological advantages associated with using storytelling in studies, there has been no evidence of the link between improving human adaptability and using storytelling in research. Throughout this study, the author makes the case that narrative is critical to effective organizational management and leadership. Although essential and creative in developing qualitative management research is, the growth of story methods has resulted in a lack of consistency in the field.
 Originality/Value: This paper addresses the application of storytelling to organization management and how storytelling is used as a tool for qualitative research.
 Research Limitations/Future Research: The research was primarily focused on secondary research and, therefore, could be limited to previous research findings.
 Paper Type: Conceptual
 JEL Classification: C25, C35

Like and Subscribe: Opportunities for Qualitative Social Media Research in Management

Management scholars have paid greater attention to social media as a phenomenon than as a method used to interrogate organisations and organising. While social media has emerged as a rich source of data, it has been used predominately to increase the quantity of data rather than enrich the quality of data for researchers to analyse. In this paper we argue that, as a result, many advantages of qualitative social media data remain latent. Our aim is to provide a more substantial definition of the domains of social media as a phenomenon and as means for data collection before we define types of social media for data collection. This provides a discussion of social media data and the nature of user generated digital texts. We then highlight four main choices for researchers: (i) intensive vs. extensive research and temporality, (ii) the potential of digital ethnographic research designs, (iii) who SM can reach in terms of accessing research participants, and (iv) options for integrating SM research. We conjecture that this opens-up new possibilities for qualitative research in management by providing a more granular assessment of how social media can be used to collect insightful and previously unavailable, data for qualitative research.

Teaching to read empirical sections from qualitative academic management literature as Literature

ABSTRACT This article advocates in favor of using existing qualitative research in management as a source of narratives relevant for teaching purposes. It suggests that empirical sections of selected academic articles (i.e. scientific literature with a small ‘l’) can be isolated from their context (abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology etc.) and read as short stories (i.e. Literature with a capital ‘L’) with noticeable pedagogical benefits. It builds on the author’s personal experience of a pedagogical experiment during which empirical sections from qualitative research articles published in the field of management accounting were used as stories to enhance classroom learning experience for teachers and students alike. It argues that such stories offered a unique combination of original narratives (like novels) with scientific legitimacy (like business cases) that enriched the students’ critical understanding of what is not there in much contemporary accounting education practices: uncertainty, ambiguity, doubt and subjectivity.

Roles of online spaces in management research data collection

Management researchers nowadays use digital data and online spaces in their investigations to understand various managerial phenomena. However, the terms “digital” and “online spaces” subsume various applications and features, which make their meaning and use in management research very diverse and often ambiguous. We clarify this ambiguity by content analyzing qualitative management research articles published over two decades (2000-2019). Based on our qualitative content analysis, we develop a categorization of online spaces, focusing mainly on the roles played by the spaces in management research data collection. In addition, we explore the overlaps between the roles of these online spaces in individual studies. The roles played by researchers in these online spaces are also investigated peripherally. Lastly, based on our findings, we provide a four-step road map for guiding management researchers who are interested in using online spaces in their data collection. Our categorization and the resultant road map will help management researchers in understanding and adapting the use of online spaces in their research.

A Review of Rigor and Ethics in Qualitative Educational Administration, Management, and Leadership Research Articles Published in 1999-2018

ABSTRACT This study aimed to explore the rigor strategies and ethical steps reported in qualitative research of educational administration journals in the recent decades. Using a focused search procedure, 321 relevant empirical qualitative articles were identified. Results suggest that qualitative educational administration, management, and leadership research frequently reported using some rigor strategies and greatly underreport on using ethical steps. Moreover, we found stability in the number of strategies and steps reported over a period of two decades. Thus, it is unclear whether rigor and ethics norms in the field have been crystallizing over time. The findings and their implications are discussed.

To discard or to ado(a)pt? Looking at qualitative research templates through the lens of organizational routines

PurposeMany management scholars view templates as rigid rulebooks suffocating qualitative research. This viewpoint article recommends that, instead, templates should be viewed through the lens of organizational routines.Design/methodology/approachTo facilitate this viewpoint, this article first clarifies the confusions surrounding templates. It points out that how using templates, like following routines in an organization, constitutes three parts - the artifact, the ostensive and the performative; the latter two being often neglected by template critics. The use of templates is encouraged by discussing the learning advantages for novice researchers, through an autoethnographic note narrating the author’s own research and teaching experiences.FindingsThis article deliberates upon the criticisms against templates. It then discusses templates using a perspective offered by organizational routines. Thereafter, the use of templates in qualitative management research is discussed, with the help of examples from published reports. Finally, the article explains a way of reflexively using templates through an autoethnographic note detailing the author’s own research and teaching experiences.Originality/valueIn its entirety, the article submits that the artifacts offered by the templates and the ostensive and performative engagements of the template-users must co-exist for co-creating excellent qualitative research.

Editorial: Qualitative research in business marketing management

Editorial: Qualitative research in business marketing management

Fictionalizing dialogue: interpretative phenomenological analysis in organizational research

PurposeThis paper proposes a dialogical approach for analyzing and presenting Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) data in organizational research.Design/methodology/approachThe paper explores the story behind a story, showing how qualitative research can be fictionalized and reflexively framed in contemporary organizational settings, illustrated by IPA research conducted by the authors, into selection interviewing in Australia. Drawing from researchers' narrative notes that reflexively interpret interview data in narrative form, the data were re-interpreted in fictionalized dialogical form, enabling findings to be analyzed and presented more interactively.FindingsThe application of new interpretative techniques, like fictionalized dialogue, contributes to a richer interpretation of phenomena in qualitative organizational and management research, not limited to IPA studies.Originality/valueFictionalized dialogue brings to the surface an additional level of analysis that contributes to thematic analysis in a novel manner, also serving as a communicative tool.

Perspectives on Replication in Qualitative Research

With the increased debate on replication in quantitative research, the question arises as to whether there should be more replication occurring in qualitative research as well, and what that might mean. However, qualitative research is not sensitive to the same research methods challenges as quantitative research. Current debate about the role and forms of replication desirable in qualitative research in management has shifted from an emphasis on what qualitative replication is to the discussion of what qualitative replication should not be. The central argument in this debate is that the diversity of epistemological approaches in management research makes it impossible to achieve a ‘gold standard’ that fits all. At the same time, outside of the management discipline (e.g., history, sociology, anthropology, law), there are alternative ways in which qualitative research has been used for replication that might be more valuable than attempts to synchronize qualitative and quantitative replication methods. The purpose of this panel symposium is, therefore, to discuss alternative views on what qualitative replication could be and its possible value for qualitative research.

First-mover firms in the transition towards the sharing economy in metallic natural resource-intensive industries: Implications for the circular economy and emerging industry 4.0 technologies

The dilemma between consumption and preservation of natural resources has been repeatedly highlighted in recent literature, and is still an open discussion. The emerging concept of the circular economy brings new opportunities and business models for firms, such as the sharing economy. These new concepts are capable of promoting sustainable practices which aim to optimize and ameliorate basic resource consumption, especially in industries which are intensive in metallic natural resources. However, this topic remains relatively unexplored, especially considering genuine case studies in countries with emerging economies. There have been calls for more qualitative research in operations management to investigate real-world cases of companies transitioning from linear manufacturing towards the sharing economy. Addressing these contemporary knowledge gaps, this work unveils drivers, challenges, and opportunities for the sharing economy based on original evidence gathered from exemplary, “first-mover” cases in the Brazilian manufacturing industry which use metallic natural resources. The main contributions of this study can be summarized thus: (i) there is no homogeneity in companies' understanding of the sharing economy's potential as a win-win approach; (ii) transitioning towards the sharing economy relies on radically changing the way firms develop and upgrade their portfolio of products; (iii) transitioning towards the sharing economy is more complex – due to its challenges, drivers, and barriers – than has been reported by the literature; (iv) more advanced companies in terms of sharing economy operations management practices have mastered the capability of combining key principles of the circular economy and key elements of the sharing economy, creating an important synergy between the circular economy and the sharing economy; (v) emerging industry 4.0-related technologies seem to play a vital role in unlocking the sharing economy, as applied to product development. This work offers novel implications for both the theory and practice of operations management for the sharing economy.

The disillusion of calculative practices in academia

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight and compare insights from research conducted in different disciplines on the effects of the use of calculative practices in academia. It also acts as an introduction to the special issue on “governing by numbers: audit culture and contemporary tales of universities’ accountability”. Design/methodology/approach This paper reviews the findings and reflections provided in academic literature on the various types of consequences stemming from the diffusion of the “audit culture” in academia. In so doing, it draws upon insights from previous literature in education, management and accounting, and other papers included in this special issue of Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management. Findings The literature review shows that a growing number of studies are focussing on the hybridization of universities, not only in terms of calculative practices (e.g. performance indicators) but also in relation to individual actors (e.g. academics and managers) who may have divergent values, and thus, act according to multiple logics (business and academic logics). It highlights many areas in which further robust academic research is needed to guide policy and practice developments in universities. Research limitations/implications This paper provides academics, regulators and decision-makers with relevant insights into the critical issues of using calculative practices in academia. Despite the negative effects have been observed in various disciplines, there is an evident perpetuation in the use of those practices. Originality/value This paper contributes to the ongoing debates on the disillusion of calculative practices in academia. Yet, positive changes can be achieved within the complex settings of “hybrid” universities when the apparent class division between academics and managers is bridged.

Flesh-and-blood knowing

Purpose This paper aims to offer a perspective to interpret qualitative data drawing on the introduction of the notion of “embodied practice-based research”. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on a comprehensive literature review to support a meta-theoretical approach, we developed a theoretical essay. Findings The body is not only a field of studies but a mean of study as well. The embodied practice-based research is an inquiry style to access the tacit texture of social action and cognition. Practical implications Embodied practice-based research may impact qualitative researchers’ education and the way to report methodological proceedings and data report. Originality/value The core contribution of the paper is the introduction of a new research style able to change how researchers’ bodies may be used in qualitative management research.

Critical Conversations About Qualitative Research in Sport Management

The following article is an edited transcript of, “Critical Conversations About Qualitative Research in Sport Management” from the 2017 North American Society of Sport Management conference in Denv...