Search results for "Multiple case"
showing 10 items of 27 documents
Critical issues for employees in inter-municipal health care services: a multiple case study
2018
Abstract Background Traditional, hierarchical government structures have recently been challenged by increased complexity, fragmented services and heavy public demand. When healthcare services become fragmented and decentralised, they require redesign. Inter-municipal cooperation is a strategy to deal with current challenges and future demographic changes. Few studies exist that can help us conceptualize challenges regarding employment in this context and inform managers in the involved municipalities. This study aims to identify critical issues for employees in inter-municipal health care services and to elaborate on how and why these issues are experienced. Methods A multiple qualitative …
Implications of Managerial Framing of Stakeholders in Environmental Reports
2014
Corporate environmental reports are increasingly viewed as products of the managerial framing of responsibility and stakeholders. This notion encouraged us to conduct a multiple case study on how stakeholders are framed in environmental reports. We show how interaction between companies and stakeholders is described in the environmental reports of three firms operating in different business sectors – financial, aviation and energy – over a period of five years. We use an inductively oriented content analysis to identify five categories of relationships being constructed in the data: demanding, promoting, committing, donating and preventing. We then show how commitment and promotion dominate…
A longitudinal examination of the transition to symbolic communication in the second year of life
2003
Between 10 and 24 months of age, children progress from communicating through conventional signals to communicating through symbols in a variety of situations. The present study investigates this transition analysing mother–child communication frames and the child’s communicative acts, and tracing the developmental changes in both frames and communicative acts. Four children (2 girls, 2 boys) and their mothers were observed longitudinally and extensively, from 10 to 24 months of age, using a multiple case-study method. Through the detailed investigation of these single cases, clear developmental trajectories were found, showing that conventional frames and representational gestures ‘bridge’…
Managerial Growth Challenges in Small Software Firms: A Multiple-Case Study of Growth-Oriented Enterprises
2010
Notwithstanding the importance of small software firms, research focusing on understanding the growth challenges faced by their management is close to non-existent. By taking a life-cycle approach and focusing on managerial challenges, the aim of this paper is to analyze the growth process of small software firms. After forming a synthesis of possible growth challenges from relevant literature, the results are reflected upon case software firms using thematic interviews and questionnaires. According to the analysis of four software firms, managing human resources represents the greatest challenge for software services firms. Additionally, other challenges stem from competition and sales-rel…
Non-family employees in small family business succession: the case of psychological ownership
2013
This study is analysing non-family employees' perceptions on psychological ownership during the family business succession process. Three small family companies were chosen for the multiple case studies. The results of this study show that non-family employees are participating on the small family business succession and they do possess a strong psychological ownership towards the family business, their own work, and the founder generation. Non-family employees recognise the changing management and leadership in successions. Non-family employees' psychological ownership increases in succession. This has got influence on commitment and well being in unique way according to personal character…
Socio-cultural factors and transnational entrepreneurship
2011
This article addresses theoretical and empirical issues concerning the emergent field of transnational entrepreneurship. We discuss issues regarding the antecedents of transnational entrepreneurship focusing specifically on the socio-cultural factors affecting this phenomenon in the Spanish context. Entrepreneurship, ethnic and transnational entrepreneurship literature is combined with institutional approach to explain what and how different socio-cultural factors influence the emergence and development of transnational entrepreneurship in Catalonia (in the north-east of Spain). We do this by looking at four case studies of transnational entrepreneurs with different ethnicity (Ecuadorian, …
ERP system implementation in SMEs: exploring the influences of the SME context
2012
Small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs are increasingly implementing enterprise resource planning ERP systems. Compared to large enterprises, SMEs differ in a number of inherent characteristics, which are likely to impact the ERP system implementations. The purpose of this study is to explore these influences of the SME context on the ERP system implementation process. SME characteristics are synthesised from relevant literature and the influences of the contextual factors on various activities across the ERP life cycle are investigated. The study presents findings from a multiple case study of four SMEs. The ownership type of the companies and limited resources were identified as the most…
Navigating uncharted waters: Designing business models for virtual and augmented reality companies in the medical industry
2021
Abstract New technologies are at the heart of industry transformation. Virtual and augmented reality companies provide fundamentally new ways of communication, treatment, education, and specialist training within the medical industry. However, business models for new ventures that target the medical industry have received scant attention within academic research. Using a multiple case study approach, we analyze how virtual and augmented reality firms create value for their customers in the medical industry. In all, we have studied eight companies that offer different types of solutions for their target segments. The results of the analysis are four design elements consisting of twelve posit…
How Companies Develop a Culture for Digital Innovation: A Multiple-Case Study
2021
Companies are constantly facing new challenges through digital technologies, as they can cause rapid changes in their business environment. Digital innovations can offer the opportunity to gain competitive advantages, but in practice, companies often struggle to create the conditions for this. Developing a culture for digital innovation is an important capability that companies need to build. It includes appropriate organizational structures, working methods, skills, and new ways of thinking in the innovation process. This has been explored in previous research at a high level of abstraction. Our paper complements past findings with a detailed study of what activities companies are doing in…
How Smart Cities Explore New Technologies
2019
The concept of smart city is considered as a new paradigm of urban development. Information and communication technologies are expected to transform cities into smart cities and improve the citizens’ quality of life. However, smart city initiatives still have difficulties to leverage value from technology opportunities. How smart city initiatives examine the possibilities of new technologies is therefore a highly interesting question. Based on a multiple case study we identify two different approaches and factors that influence the choice of approach: Cities either initially focus on use cases solving urban challenges, or on a systematic build-up of a technological platform for future use c…