Introduction How to design and conduct a practice-oriented case study

case study, and therefore will not be repeated here. There are two main differences between practice-oriented and theory-oriented case study research, which both follow from their different aims. These differences concern case selection and the implications of a study’s outcome. In this chapter we will only discuss these two issues.

11.1.2 Case selection

When a proposition is tested in a theory-testing study, the “most likely” or “least likely” case or cases, or population is selected from the domain on theoretical grounds, but the researcher in hypothesis-testing research is not interested in knowing whether the cases in this practice are “most likely” or “least likely” in terms of a theory. For instance, when the researcher wants to test a hypothesis regarding the success factors of the innovation projects of a specific company, a project or several projects from within that company are selected for the test. Similarly, case selection in hypothesis-building research is confined to the boundaries of the practice to which the research is oriented or to the domain of similar practices. The most important criterion for case selection in hypothesis-building research, just as in case selection in theory-building case study research, is that the range of values of the known variables is maximized. For instance, if there is an unknown cause for a known effect e.g. an undesirable effect, cases must be selected in such a way as to have maximum variation of the value of the dependent variable. Similarly, if there is an as yet unknown effect of a given cause, cases must be selected in such a way as to have maximum variation of the value of the independent variable. Case selection in descriptive practice-oriented research is also con- fined either to the practice to which the research is oriented or to the domain of similar practices from which something could be learned.

11.1.3 Implications of the research results

In theory-oriented research, a confirmation or a rejection of a hypoth- esis representing a proposition in a theory-testing study has implica- tions for the theory. The researcher might want to reformulate the tested proposition or to replicate the test in other instances. One test does not tell us whether the proposition is correct for all instances or populations to which the theory is assumed to apply. However, a confirmation or a rejection of a hypothesis in a practice-oriented study definitely tells us whether the hypothesis is true for this practice if the test is conducted in a case or cases from within that practice or for very similar situations if the test is conducted in a case or cases that are very similar to the practice situation to which the study is oriented. Test results, therefore, have direct implications for the practitioner’s options for action. The result of a successful hypothesis-building study is a hypothesis, or a set of hypotheses, of which it is known by means of the practice of initial testing that they are true in the set of selected cases from which these hypotheses have emerged. Before the generated hypothesis can be considered true for the practice to which the study is oriented, it must first be tested in a next hypothesis-testing study. The exception to this rule is the situation in which the hypothesis was built by studying the entire practice to which the research is oriented e.g. if a hypoth- esis was built about a relation between a department’s management team’s style and the department’s performance in all departments of a company. In the latter case a fact regarding this practice has been discovered and no further testing is needed. The result of good descriptive practice-oriented research is a true or valid description of types of variables complaints, practices, strategies that definitely exist in the described range of values or types in the instances in which they were identified. This result is “true” for the prac- tice if the entire practice to which the research is oriented was studied. Chapter 11 Box 15 A practice-oriented “flash case study” Refer to Flowchart 1. Preparation phase 1. Define research topic ■ In this book we define the terms “proposition” and “hypothesis” as having dis- tinct meanings. We define a proposition as a part of a theory and a hypothesis as a part of a study. We noticed that some of our colleagues used these terms as synonyms. This alerted us to the possibility that we used these words in an idiosyncratic way. 2. Define general research objective see Flowchart 3 ■ We wanted to do a quick practice-oriented case study to find out if the distinc- tion that we make between the terms hypothesis and proposition is accepted in the field of business research.