my concern is that, if you use a case study (on one company) you are generally going to get the reason for 1 company. this is less informative. doing a number of case studies may be too tedious. i would only consider case studies, if there is a very particular issue you want to look at, or if the company is very unique.

alternatively, i would suggest interviews. it is still qualitative, with similar benefits as case studies, and will allow a greater sample, thus giving a more general/ broader result

my concern is that, if you use a case study (on one company) you are generally going to get the reason for 1 company. this is less informative. doing a number of case studies may be too tedious. i would only consider case studies, if there is a very particular issue you want to look at, or if the company is very unique.

alternatively, i would suggest interviews. it is still qualitative, with similar benefits as case studies, and will allow a greater sample, thus giving a more general/ broader result

Dear Fatima,

The size of the firms, the markets in which they operate and the particular type of IT they produce may also be relevant factors in answering your question. In view of this you may need to narrow down your research question somewhat.

I also agree with Brian. Case studies require in depth analysis of the chosen company from a variety of different angles and are not easily generalisable.

Dear Fatima,

Based on the info you post and the question you ask, I wonder if it would be a good idea to take a step back and re-scope your project description...

A good - but also difficult - approach to scope a research project is to formulate a working definition of 1) the purpose of your study, and 2) the goal(s) of your study.

Here are some process-related questions that can help you:

What is it you would like to study?

Why is this important? - unexplored potential or problem-solving?

What are the contributions/deliverables created as part of your project?

Is it inductive or deductive theory-building; is it theory-testing - or both?

How does the scientific method relate to the research question(s) you ask? - is there a fit?

What can the academic community learn from your study(which theories are you improving/creating)?

What can practitioners learn from your study (which actions for improvement are you suggesting)?

I hope that my questions might help you more than create confusion...

Best,

Jacob

You asked, 'Could this research objective be potentially improved/more critical?' and 'Please share your ideas on potential scope of research aims.'

You should begin with a lierature review of dictionary definitions and industry meanings of the key terms and (likely) processes in your study. E.g. competitive advantage, information technology, technological company. This exercise will sharpen your research scope and enable you to find answers to the fundamental questions raised by Jacob Brix.

Studying one company will not give you much useful information or insights. They may not show you sensitive documents that embarrass them. If you are passionate about the case study approach, your study should cover more firms (say 40-50) in a similar tech domain, and of similar size, practice and other characteristics. A questionnaire (say 80-100 questions) will reduce your effort and lend clarity to your results. This may expose you to both similar and uncommon policies and practices.

Dear Fatima,

If your plan is to explore the source of competitive advantages of firms (plural), I think one case study is not a good choice. As for the scope of research, you can select technology companies which products, services, and the market can be compared so that you can focus on comparative or differential advantages. Since you are talking about technology industry, I believe you will focus on differential advantages. I recommend consulting Your mentor since we do not know what are: purpose, expected contribution, the hypothesis of your dissertation. I would use questionnaires for chosen companies.

The following sources could further help:

• Cooper, D. R. and Schindler, P. S. (2014). Business Research Methods, New York, NY, McGraw-Hill/Irwin. (See: research objectives, pp. 271/596).
• Farrugia, P., Petrisor, B. A., Farrokhyar, F. and Bhandari, M. (2010). Research questions, hypotheses and objectives. Canadian Journal of Surgery, 53, 4, pp. 278-281.
• Kumar, R. (2011). Research Methodology - a step-by-step for beginners, California, SAGE Publications Ltd. (See: objective perspective/formulation of research objectives/characteristics of objectives, etc.).
• Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2009). Research Methods for Business Students, Harlow, England, Pearson Education Limited. (See: Writing research objectives, pp. 34-41).
• What is the difference between "Aims" and "Objectives" in a Computer Science study?https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_the_difference_between_Aims_and_Objectives_in_a_Computer_Science_study