REALIZACIÓN DE LAS FUNCIONES DEL OFICIAL DE GUARDIA

Essentially, this study focuses on a past event, the formation of AC, and involves multiple parties through the founding companies. Therefore, interviews of the parties involved as well as the documentations of the event appear as the most proponent sources for data collection.

As a consequence of using this kind of data triangulation, the thesis satisfies Yin’s first principle of data collection: utilization of multiple sources of evidence, thus improving the construct validity of the study (Yin, 2009, 118). Moreover, in accordance with Yin’s second

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data collection principle, a case study database was maintained in order to increase the reliability of the entire research (Yin, 2009, 119).

3.3.1. Interviews

The primary source of empirical evidence in this thesis is the alliance member interviews with design founded on the thematic semi-structured interview-format by Hirsjärvi & Hurme (2010). The basic proposition of the design is preconditioned knowledge of the researched phenomenon, upon which the interview structure is subsequently built (ibid.). During the interview, discussion revolves around certain premeditated themes but allows conversation to go further. One of the largest benefits of thematic interviews is the flexibility it grants for moving towards unexpected directions and gaining new insights.

Most of the interviews were conducted with the AC member firms’ CEOs and managers using the themes and questions partly based on the literature review, and depicted in Appendix 1. A significant assumption within the outline is that expectations for the alliance represent accurately the motives for joining the alliance as well. At first, following the suggestions of Hirsjärvi & Hurme (2010, 72), a preliminary audience with one alliance member (Company H) was arranged to ensure the relevance of the themes, and to test the framework. Subsequently, a total of eight companies were interviewed from the alliance with the purpose of finding out their motives for originally joining the alliance, and expectations for the future. Furthermore, their needs and ambitions regarding internationalization and Russian market were explored and discussed.

In addition to the eight Airport Concepts -members, one interview was held with the Operational Director of LIMOWA, which is a Finnish cluster revolving around logistic centers. The aforementioned network resembles Airport Cluster Finland in multiple ways, and with additional years of operations it has managed to obtain a total of 66 member companies (Härkönen 26.6.2013, interview). Though the extensive company support the alliance can be considered fairly successful and thus was selected as a comparison unit for the thesis. Even so, the primary purpose of the interview was to get a reference point for comparing the results derived from the empirical part and improving the external validity of the study. It is noteworthy that LIMOWA is not treated as the second case of a multiple-case study, but as a checking point and a component for a more comprehensive analysis and

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possible benchmarking. This strategy derives from the proposition by Yin (2009) that the only way of verifying the external validity of a single case study is using a reference. The additional interview was built around the resources and benefits the cluster claimed to offer its member, and how were they met thus far.

Because the topic of the thesis is profoundly theoretical, a tenth interview was conducted to build a connection with reality and achieve more operational results. It was held in Moscow with a senior manager from the biggest airport in Russia in terms of annual passengers, the Domodedovo airport. The purpose was to gain insights into the client perspective while testing some of the assumptions behind collaborative internationalization. Essentially, the interview sheds light on both the primary research question of the rationale behind entering the foreign markets together and the secondary question of Russian market influence.

The ten interviews were all held in the native language of the interviewees, to ensure a natural flow of data collection and communication. Except for the preliminary interview with Company H, they were first recorded and then carefully transcribed in text to permit deeper analysis. The amount of transcribed material accumulated to 66 pages in total. A full disclosure of all interviews with corresponding details is found in Appendix 2.

3.3.2. Documents

According to Simons (2009), formal document analysis has the potential to add depth and comprehensiveness to a case study. She argues that collective use of documents can portray, add meaning and enrich the context of the object at hand. Yin (2009) adds a caution that although documents should be used in almost every case study for augmenting evidence from other sources, they should not be accepted as literal recordings of events (Yin, 2009, 103).

Through my position in the facilitating company Vantaa Innovation Institute, I gained unrestricted access to all documents related to the founding and operations of Airport Concepts. In total, over 300 pages of report texts were reviewed. A fairly large portion of the records were related to the project applications made to the financier European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). In addition, the meeting notes from Airport Concepts – workshops, member conferences, company webpages, and board meetings were surveyed for relevant information. This data was used to validate the information from the interviews and

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provide a more comprehensive view of the case (Koskinen, Alasuutari, & Peltonen, 2005, 130).