CÓMO LOS PRÍNCIPES APRENDIERON A DISPARAR

This research fills an apparent void in the academic literature addressing the influential factors (why?) which facilitated a manufacturer’s decision to make an

insourcing decision. Qualitative research methods were selected to support this research since the primary focus was to address ‘why’ questions concerning the outsourcing-to- insourcing manufacturing relocation shift.

Hayes (2000) identified the need for “less hypothesis testing and more systematic observation to help managers deal with their actual problems.” As the research centers on ‘why’ questions concerning the outsourcing-to-insourcing manufacturing relocation shift, Yin (2009) and Ellram (1996) suggests that qualitative, exploratory case study research is appropriate. This is in part due to the uniqueness of the contemporary event where there is little prior understanding of the phenomenon. Coughlin and Coghlan

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(2002) recommend use of qualitative research methods to develop models and theories to explain current phenomena (i.e., the outsourcing-to-insourcing relocation shift).

5.5.1 Sample Size

Pratt (2009) states, “unlike quantitative research … there is no magic number of interviews or observations that should be conducted in a qualitative research project. What is ‘enough’ depends on the question a researcher seeks to answer.” Witt and Redding (2009) suggests qualitative research methods usually make a trade-off between sample size and depth of research detail. Eisenhardt (1989) suggests there is no ideal number of cases but 4-10 cases have worked well for most qualitative studies. Her rationale is that researchers using less than 4 cases will find it difficult to convince readers of sufficient empirical grounding while those dealing with more than 10 cases may find it difficult to “cope with the complexity and volume of data,” gathered. Ellram (1996) identifies the use of 6-10 cases for qualitative research as a sample size

sufficiently large enough to properly evaluate a set of research propositions. This body of research was developed using 30 interviews completed with 12 different companies, and incorporates findings from 14 specific case studies. Information from the interviews and cased studies was used to examine elements of the outsourcing-to-insourcing

relocation shift and evaluate the themes of TCE and RBV in the context of insourcing.

5.5.2 Sampling Strategy

Eisenhardt (1989) states, “selection of cases is an important aspect of building theory from case studies…the concept of population is crucial, because the population

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defines the set of entities from which the research sample is to be drawn. Also, selection of an appropriate population controls extraneous variation and helps to define the limits for generalizing the findings.” She further adds, “while cases may be chosen randomly, random selection is neither necessary, nor preferable.” Research participants and insourcing cases were selected within the manufacturing and manufacturing material support industries for analysis as a means of controlling for variation across industries. Two units of analysis were examined, 1) the individual firm and 2) the specific in- sourcing case.

5.5.3 Data Collection

Our approach was to gain insight into the experiences of senior executives and managers familiar with the rationale and objectives which lead to the outsourcing-to- insourcing decision. First, during the data design phase, we applied insights gained from the extant literature to develop an interview questionnaire. The primary and secondary questions were developed in such a manner as to allow the participants to share their unique perspectives. The interview questions were validated by colleagues who were experienced researchers with extensive knowledge of the outsourcing literature. Secondly, we selected participants based on their positional responsibilities and understanding of the firm’s insourcing strategies. A total of 30 interviews were conducted with “persons who are best informed” (Voss, et al., 2002, pg. 206) of the firm’s views on the outsourcing-to-insourcing shift and specific insourcing cases.

Each interview participant agreed to provide access to company information, historical records and additional supporting personnel which would round-out the

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collection of relevant information. Twenty-nine interviews took place in-person, one was completed via telephone. All 30 interviews were digitally recorded and professionally transcribed in order to support thorough coding and analysis. We have identified the positional titles, number of formal interviews conducted and average duration of each interview in Table 10 below. The names of each participating firm have been omitted at their request as a means of protecting proprietary and / or confidential information.

Table 10 – Research Participants

Ten primary research questions were addressed during the course of the

interviews (see Appendix A). Although each of the 10 questions adds value to the body of knowledge, the focus of this current research stream is to present a foundational understanding of the factors that are influential in the manufacturing outsourcing-to- insourcing shift. During the interviews, senior executives and managers were presented with the research question, “How do the following factors influence an insourcing

decision?” Discussion of each of the 23 factors was informed by the literature as

presented in Sections 5.3 above. Secondly, each firm identified a specific insourcing case and key personnel familiar with the outsourcing-to-insourcing decision were interviewed.

Firm Position of Participants # Interviews Interview

Duration (Ave.) Firm Position of Participants # Interviews

Interview Duration (Ave.)

Vice President, Equipment Operations National Senior Fleet Manager Manufacturing Engineering Manager State-wide Fleet Manager

Manager of Sourcing & Process Engineering Vice President, Sustainable Operations

Senior Quality Manager Vice President, Engineering

Director, Overseas Operations Executive Director, Operations Manager, Supply Management

Manager, New Plants Instrumentation & Control Systems

Supply Council Manager Program Manager, Legacy Systems & Upgrades Director, System Program Management &

Customer Support H President / CEO 1 48mins

Manager, Aftermarket Business Development I President / CEO 1 1hr 44mins

Purchasing Manager Associate Director of Engineering

Procurement Analyst Director, Global Procurement

Vice President, Supply Chains K Executive Director, Quality Assurance 1 1hr 30mins Director, Supply Chain Management Vice President, Outside Sales

Manager, Supply Chain Operations Manager

Commodity Manager Customer Engagement Lead

2 L 3 A B E C D F J G 1hr 14mins 3 2 2 1hr 16mins 1hr 14mins 1hr 32mins 2hrs 12mins 1hr 50mins 1hr 1hr 10mins 1hr 4 3 4 4

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A formal case study worksheet (See Appendix B) was used and each interview was recorded, transcribed and coded for evaluation.

An iterative, multi-phase collect-analyze-compare process was applied for the firm-level interviews and for each specific insourcing case. Binder and Edwards (2010) state that in using this approach, “the researcher moves back and forth between data collection, coding and interpretation in an iterative manner (analytic induction) until theoretical saturation is achieved (newly analyzed data do not prompt further changes to the concepts) which leads to a tightly woven theory that emerges from and is ‘grounded’ in the data.” This approach, coupled with the use of “why” and “how” questions

“…provide(d) depth and richness for constructing knowledge and building theories of contemporary and little known phenomena” (Binder and Edwards, 2010).

Strauss and Corbin (1998) provide a data and information coding methodology which allowed the researcher to systematically evaluate the information gathered through the interview process. The coding methodology applied to this research was:

Stage 1: Development of key template categories based on research objectives. Stage 2: Codification and analysis of interviews.

Stage 3: Clustering of codes into coherent categories.

Stage 4. Development of coding master table (axial and selective coding). Stage 5. Formation of propositions. (See Section 5.9)

Binder and Edwards (2010) suggest that this is not to be a linear approach from Stage 1 to 5, therefore the research approach involved iterations within and between stages as the researchers became more familiar with the data. Figure 13 below illustrates the high-level approach applied during the data collection and analysis process. It

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highlights the major steps of the approach which were required in order to achieve a high degree of research reliability (i.e., repeatability) (Yin, 1989).

Information and data gathered through the interview and case study approach was synthesized into case reports which were made available to the research participants for content validation. The case reports were then used as substantive and supporting content, along with other literature and information collected, to formally structure the results in tables which supported further analysis through pattern matching. This

approach ensured reliability of the research approach and enables future expansion of the number of cases (and inclusion of other industries).

Figure 13 – Research Data Collection and Analysis Approach