How Does Web Communication Construct Organizational Identity - Annotated Bibliography Example

Research methods xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Instructor xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date RESEARCH METHODS: CASE STUDY ANALYSIS Case study A: Coupland, C. and Brown, A. 2004. Constructing organizational identities on the web: A case study of royal Dutch/Shell. Journal of management studies, Volume 41, Issue 8, p. 1326-1337. Introduction The issue discussed in this article is organizational identity as constructed in the processes of questioning, description, defense and contestation through conversations between organizational insiders and outsiders. It focuses on a case study involving the dialogue between the general public and Shell employees. The article begins by giving an overview of organizational identity according to previous researches and what has also been detailed in literature. This is a strongpoint for the researcher since it provides him with a conceptual framework of what is expected in his study and gives direction into how he should conduct it. Research question How does web communication construct organizational identity? Research method Qualitative methods were used in this particular study. This is so because the researcher was more interested in understanding the underlying concept rather than determining the extent of given statistics. An extensive search was conducted on the company’s website in order to locate specific conversations between citizens and the organization employees on identity-centered debates. Interestingly, Shell has an open site for insider-outsider forums contrary to other companies which therefore provided a rich source of data. However, this can be highly contested and inappropriate since one site could provide results that are highly unreliable and invalid and insufficient in making conclusive judgments. Therefore, it would have been better if the researcher searched through other sites in the internet as well as publications from newspapers and journals. The researchers have to go through emails that were posted in a span of two years which proved to be tiresome and time consuming. This became an outright limitation and source of error since the researchers were forced to analyze only a portion of the emails specifically those on ‘Value’ neglecting the rest on Commitment to sustainable development, engagement and open communication, heart of the business and investment. The random sampling method used in this particular study does not properly fit into the context. This is because the emails were based on given topics as indicated above which implied that the researchers would have stratified the emails according to the topics and thereafter selected specific subjects on a random basis. The stratified sampling method would be recommendable so as to comprehensively answer the research question. Results In this article, only two e-mail exchanges were highlighted to analyze the contribution of web interaction in maintaining organizational identity. Findings were centered on patterns of arguments which were either defense or contestation through display of full text sections. This process is rather complex as it required the researchers to dissect the messages and extract the ideas of the conversers and how they influenced organizational identity. The sample actually cannot be generalized to the larger population since different emails bring out different ideas and it would only be appropriate to examine all the emails if the researcher was seeking adequate and sufficient results. Interviews and questionnaires given to the employees of Shell would preferably produce better results in this study. Case study B: Wrigley, B. (2002). Glass Ceiling? What is glass ceiling? A Qualitative study of how women view the glass the glass ceiling in public relations and communications management. Journal of public relations research, Volume 14, Issue 1, P. 27-55. Introduction This article focuses on glass ceiling as an issue that continues to persist even in the contemporary society where women have been incredibly empowered. The study was conducted in 1991 by Lynn Martin, the Labor Secretary in the United States. The study was aimed at finding reasons why women were unable to take up managerial positions relative to their male counterparts. It intends to fill the gap created by prior researches which failed to give clear conclusions about the main causes of glass ceiling. Research questions Do women in corporate public relations and communications management perceive a glass ceiling to be in place? What factors do women think help to create or maintain the glass ceiling for women in public relations and communications? What strategies are there for women in public relations and communications who want to work to eliminate the glass ceiling? Once major strength in this article is that the researcher gives an in depth analysis of the research topic by reviewing literature and researches previous conducted by other people in the past. This is quite fundamental in conceptualizing on the key issues underlying the study. It gives the researcher ideas of what he should address in his research, the scope of the research and the methods that would be most appropriate for the study. Research methods Qualitative methods were used for this study particularly in-depth interviews and focus groups. Focus groups are quite relevant for this study since they provide the researcher with rich and vivid explanation; a core aspect in this study. In addition, opinions and attitudes can be adequately determined through focus groups. In-depth interviews are also reasonable methods of data collection for this particular topic. These kind of unstructured interviews enable the researcher to elicit information from the interviewee’s by probing additional questions in order to have a holistic understanding of the challenges faced by women who held managerial positions. Sampling methods The participants in the focus groups were randomly selected; this means that there was no systematic approach of selecting them although considerations were made with regard to age and experience. On the other hand, samples for the in-depth interviews were selected using stratified sampling method. Strata were made based on job titles and experience levels after which the specific subjects were selected using the snowball method. This implies that both probability and non-probability sampling methods were used. These sampling methods were quite appropriate since certain variables such as job experience have a major contribution to the topic in discussion. Therefore, the instruments used were both valid and reliable and provided a good measurement of the issue under discussion. However, questionnaires could serve as a good alternative since most of these women are very busy and may lack time to sit for interviews or focus groups. The research can be considered as successful since it brought a new viewpoint and theory relative to the traditional cognitive dissonance concerning glass ceiling. Validity and reliability of measures The research method used in this study is quite valid. The researcher used focus groups and in-depth interviews and as depicted by the results, they have adequately answered the research question. Case study C: Curtin, P. (2006). Contested notions of issue identity in the international public relations: A case study. Journal of the public relations research, Volume 18, Issue 1, p. 67-89. Introduction The main theme emerging in this article is identity as a major issue underpinning the public relations docket. Identity has a great impact on the conception of international publics hence forms an area of concern for public relations. Identity is one of the five moments used in the process of meaning creation by multinational corporations and supranational organizations in the course of their international practice. The article focuses on the case study of World Health Organization (WHO) during its campaign to eradicate small pox. Essentially, the article discusses identity with regard to the issue under review, that is small pox, rather than identity of the organization which in this case is WHO. Research questions What is small pox? How did the multiple and conflicting identities of small pox affect the campaign? What can be learnt from this campaign and how can it be applied into public relations theory? The author of this article clearly defined the concept under discussion. In other word, the introductory part of the paper gives the reader a clear understanding of the main area of research which is identity of small pox in the worldwide campaign conducted by WHO. However, a deeper and precise meaning of the term identity important in conceptualization of the issue is clearly lacking. The concern is whether identity was in terms of the organization bid to identify cases of small pox in regions of the world or means of acknowledging the disease in terms of symptoms. Research method The research method used in this article is a case study which is a form of qualitative research. Based on the research questions outlines, the researcher was more interested in qualitative understanding of the underlying topic rather than statistical figures which is probably the main reason he utilized a case study. Case studies are used in situations where the researcher is trying to examine non-quantifiable aspects and therefore a case study was the most appropriate choice in this research. Data was collected from secondary sources such as books, newspaper articles, journals and publications. The use of secondary sources is justifiable based on the fact that the issue of small pox past in history and use of primary sources such as interviews and questionnaires would be irrelevant. Validity and reliability of measures Validity of the secondary sources used in this study is questionable since their trustworthiness and accuracy cannot be quantifiably assessed. Besides that, they are not fully reliable since findings in such materials differ significantly. Sampling The research used non-probability sampling methods. This means that no specific criterion was used to select the materials that would be used to obtain results. He used his own judgment to determine if the materials he had collected were sufficient in giving him the expected results. The samples collected could be generalized to the larger population since they range from newspapers from different parts of the world, different publications made by WHO officials and peer reviewed journals. References Coupland, C. and Brown, A. 2004. Constructing organizational identities on the web: A case study of royal Dutch/Shell. Journal of management studies, Volume 41, Issue 8, p. 1326-1337. Curtin, P. (2006). Contested notions of issue identity in the international public relations: A case study. Journal of the public relations research, Volume 18, Issue 1, p. 67-89. Wrigley, B. (2002). Glass Ceiling? What is glass ceiling? A Qualitative study of how women view the glass the glass ceiling in public relations and communications management. Journal of public relations research, Volume 14, Issue 1, P. 27-55. Read More