Preliminary Phase (Semi-Structured In-Depth Interviews)
Because this research focuses on offering explanation of the event of low-tech innovation specific questions (along with their levels within the case study) have been relied on in order to generate explanations of the causal mechanisms (the critical realist view). Yin (2003) suggests two levels of questions that are of primary concern here. One, questions pertinent to the case. These have been termed as Case Questions (Case-Qs) in this section. Second, questions posed to particular respondents. These have been termed as Respondent Questions (Res-Qs) in this section. Additionally, Case-Qs and Res-Qs have been linked to the particular research objectives (ROs) and research questions (RQs) they help address.
RO1-RQ1.1 Case-Qs:
Develop an understanding of the sector in terms of different products, production processes, marketing practices being implemented by firms and the firms’ organizational characteristics
Develop a general sense of various problems and issues relevant to the sector. What is ‘good’, what is ‘bad’?
Res-Qs:
Mining and Processing Unit Owners/Managers
o Different products, shapes, sizes, colours, forms, quality. How does final
product look like?
o Phases of production process, equipments/machineries/technologies used o Workers‟ skills, experience and training, respondent‟s business orientation,
experience and knowledge
o Markets for products. Domestic/national/international, types of customers and
nature of relationship with them, nature of demand, supply issues related to raw material, equipment/machinery and its components/parts
o Nature of business (small or medium sized firm), organizational structure
(owner and manager same or different), roles of workers/staff
o Sharing of experiences that shed light on any other issues and problems
Supplier and Middleman
o Technical details about equipment/machinery/technologies currently being
used. Where from are they available? Where are the problems and in what form do they exist in the machinery? How they affect product quality and production efficiency
o Different kinds of products (mining and processing phase), machinery/equipment used
o Workers‟ skills/experience and training, processing/mining unit
owner/manager‟s business orientation, experience and knowledge, respondent‟s own experience/knowledge
o Markets for products. Domestic/national/international, types of customers and
nature of relationship with them, nature of demand, supply issues related to equipment/machinery
o Marble firms‟ organizational structure
o Sharing of experiences that shed light on any other issues and problems
prevalent in the sector especially with reference to role of „middleman‟ and supplier of equipment/machinery/components
Sector Expert
o Nature of product and processes both in the mining and processing phases o Technologies and machinery/equipment being used by firms in the sector o Nature of knowledge and learning process prevalent in the sector
o Marketing practices, nature of demand, supply issues and firms‟ organizational structure prevalent in the sector
o Sharing of experiences with respect to respondent‟s interaction with the sector and different stakeholders
Representative of Support Organization
o Sharing of experiences with respect to respondent‟s interaction with the sector, marble firms and different stakeholders
RO1-RQ1.2 Case-Qs:
Find out whether firms in the sector innovate or not. If yes, in what forms do these innovations manifest themselves and what are the respondents’ perceptions about innovation itself.
Begin to focus on factors (internal and external to the firm) that influenced or can influence the owner/manager to innovate or not to innovate.
Res-Qs:
Processing Unit and Mining Unit Owner/Manager
o Was there an attempt by the firm to innovate in terms of products and/or
processes? In what form (new and/or improved products, new and/or improved processes e.g. machinery/technologies, production techniques)? What happened as a result?
o Did the firm search for new markets/customers for its products? What
happened with the search? Did the firm attempt to increase sales in existing market? What happened?
o Did the firm introduce any change to its organizational structure, improved
worker skills through formal/informal training, hired/removed workers? What happened?
Supplier, Middleman, Sector Expert, Representative of Support Organization
o What kind of product, process, marketing or organizational improvements/innovations has the respondent observed in the sector
o Highlight key factors that influenced or can influence firms to
improve/innovate or not to improve/innovate? Let the respondent elaborate on these issues.
8.2.8. Case and Respondent Questions:
Preliminary Phase (Semi-Structured In-Depth Interviews) and Build-Up Phase (Structured Interviews and Questionnaires)
RO2-RQ2.1 Case-Qs:
Develop a more in-depth understanding of SSI in terms of its key element, the agents (firms including individuals and non-firms) and their role within the sector
Res-Qs:
Processing Unit and Mining Unit Owner/Manager
within the firm and the sector with regards to innovation
o What is the role of government and other support organizations with regards to innovation by a firm
o What is the role of suppliers and middlemen with regards to innovation in a firm
Supplier, Middleman, Sector Expert, Representative of Support Organization
o What is the role of Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (SMEDA) in promoting innovation amongst firms in the sector
o What is the role of Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC) o What is the role of government with regards to innovation by a firm o What is the role of suppliers, middlemen and sector experts o What is the role of firm and individual within firm
RO2-RQ2.2 Case-Qs:
Develop an in-depth understanding of nature of knowledge and technologies within the sector
Res-Qs:
Processing Unit and Mining Unit Owner/Manager
o Are technologies changing/improving in the sector? Is the change slow, fast or non-existent?
o What knowledge is structured/unstructured, technical/non-technical
o Do firms generate internal knowledge; do they rely on external knowledge only or have a combination of both?
RO2-RQ2.3 Case-Qs:
Develop a more in-depth understanding of nature of learning processes and demand in the sector
Res-Qs:
Processing Unit and Mining Unit Owner/Manager
o What is firm’s learning orientation?
o Does demand change occur in the sector? What does it appear like? Do firms seek new markets?
o What factors influence demand?
RO2-RQ2.4 Case-Qs:
Develop a more in-depth understanding of nature of institutions in the sector Res-Qs:
Processing Unit and Mining Unit Owner/Manager, Supplier, Middleman, Sector Expert, Representative of Support Organization
o What are the different forms of institutions in the sector? Are they regulative, normative and/or cognitive institutions? What role do they play?
o Do institutions help stabilize the sector or play a role otherwise?
o Do institutions in the sector have a national and/or regional character/origin as well? Are there institutions that are sector specific?
RO3-RQ3.1 Case-Qs:
What is the nature of interaction amongst firms and amongst firms and non- firms?
Does the interaction facilitate innovation amongst firms or otherwise? Why or why not?
Res-Qs:
Processing Unit and Mining Unit Owner/Manager
o Do firms in the sector collaborate and interact amongst themselves and with non-firms? Are these interactions strong or weak? What are these interactions about?
o Do the interactions have a particular pattern and are they formalized?
o What is the nature of dependence of one type of agent on another? Who is dependent on whom? Does that support or hinder innovation?
RO3-RQ3.2 Case-Qs:
What is the nature of interaction amongst firms and institutions?
Does the interaction facilitate innovation amongst firms or otherwise? Why or why not?
Res-Qs:
Processing Unit and Mining Unit Owner/Manager
o Do firms interact with formal institutions? How does the interaction occur? o Do firms interact with informal institutions? How does the interaction occur? o Do formal institutions have a facilitative or restrictive role with regards to
innovation? How?
o Do informal institutions have a facilitative or restrictive role with regards to innovation? How?
RO3-RQ3.3 Case-Qs:
What is the nature of interaction amongst firms and knowledge and technologies?
Does the interaction facilitate innovation amongst firms or otherwise? Why or why not?
Res-Qs:
Processing Unit and Mining Unit Owner/Manager
o How often do firms interact with knowledge/technologies? o Can they internalize knowledge from external sources?
o What is the role of technology intermediaries (non-firms present between firms and technology producer) and other non-firms in facilitating interactions? o Does the interaction facilitate innovation amongst firms or otherwise? Why or
why not?
RO3-RQ3.4 Case-Qs:
What is the nature of interaction amongst firms and learning processes? What is the nature of interaction amongst firms and demand?
why not?
Res-Qs:
Processing Unit and Mining Unit Owner/Manager
o How often do firms interact with learning processes and demand?
o How do workers learn? Is it ‘learning by doing’ or formal process? Is learning a collective process from the firm’s perspective?
o How do firms interact with market/customers? Is the firm proactive? Do firms respond to market demand? Do the actively lead to triggering new demand or address stagnant demand?
o Do the interactions facilitate innovation amongst firms or otherwise? Why or why not?
RO3-RQ3.5 Case-Qs:
Has a list of factors that influence low-tech innovation been developed? Are these categorized into internal (within firm) and contextual (outside firm)
factors?
Have the internal factors been further categorized into individual-level and firm-level factors?
Res-Qs:
o Not required
RO3-RQ3.6 Case-Qs:
Has a list allowing the respondent to relatively rank all factors influencing innovation been prepared?
Does it enable to find out how much each factor influences innovation? Res-Qs:
Processing Unit and Mining Unit Owner/Manager
o Has the respondent completed the ranking of all factors? 8.2.9. Format/Outline of Case Study Report
The case study is spread over three chapters (9, 10, 11) addressing the three research objectives. The outline includes;
1. General Scenario in the Sector (Objects): Firm and non-firm context (RQ1.1) i. Nature and types of products
ii. Nature of production processes iii. Nature of marketing practices iv. Nature of organizational structure
v. Organizational structures
2. Existing Innovation Scenario in the Sector (Events) – Firm Context (RQ1.2) i. Innovation from product perspective
ii. Innovation from process perspective iii. Innovation from marketing perspective iv. Innovation from organizational perspective
3. The Sectoral System of Innovation: Elements (Objects and Mechanisms) i. Role of Agents (RQ2.1)
a. Individuals and Firms 1. Mining Units 2. Processing Units b. Non-Firms
1. Suppliers
2. Middlemen/Distributors 3. Sector Support Organization ii. Knowledge and Technologies (RQ2.2)
iii. Learning Processes (RQ2.3) iv. Demand (RQ2.3)
v. Institutions and their role (RQ2.4)
4. The Sectoral System of Innovation: Structure (Relations, Mechanisms, Causal Powers)
i. Interactions amongst Firms and Firm and Non-Firms (RQ3.1) ii. Interactions amongst Firms & Institutions (RQ3.2)
iii. Interactions amongst Firms & Knowledge/Technologies (RQ3.3)
iv. Interactions amongst Firms & Learning Processes (RQ3.4) v. Interactions amongst Firms & Demand (RQ3.4)
5. Factors Influencing Innovation in the LT Sector: Categorization (RQ3.5) and Relative Importance (RQ3.6)
i. Lists of Factors and Discussions (RQ3.5 – 3.6)
8.3. Choice of Data Collection Tools and Accompanying Sampling