Data collection and analysis

Data collection of the research is basing on five different case companies selected for the study. The criterion for case companies was that they are all MNCs. In this study, the concept of MNC is defined as a company that is involved in foreign direct investments, owns or controls value-added activities in various countries therefore having a set of geographically dispersed operations, headquarters and various subsidiaries around the world (Dunning & Lundan, 2008, p. 3; Forsgren et al., 2005; Ghoshal & Bartlett, 1990;

Rugman & Verbeke, 2001). Moreover, for the purpose of this study, there were both B2B and B2C companies selected for research. Two of the companies are operating in B2B markets, two solely in B2C markets and one operates in both markets. All of the case companies are operating in different industries as the purpose was not to examine only one or two industries but rather examine different kinds of case companies operating in different industries. Due to other research criteria, finding all the case

companies from the same industry would have been not only unavailing but also demanding.

Furthermore, all of the case companies selected for the study originate from Nordic countries, one from Denmark and others from Finland. This criterion bases on suggestion about Nordic cluster (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden) having similar values for instance work goals’ importance, managerial style, organizational climate, work role and interpersonal orientation (Ronen & Shenkar, 1985; Hofstede, 1980).

Moreover, GLOBE study results address that leadership differences between 22 European countries showed significant differences in leadership style between for instance the Nordic cluster and the German cluster (Brodbeck et al., 2000). As this study considers managerial views and it is conducted from the managerial perspective, this country and culture-bound criterion was seen necessary.

Four case company representatives were contacted via email and one via Linkedin service. All five company representatives selected to participate in interview situations are managers in charge of brand management practices in the global context even though their titles in the company may differ. As some of the case companies asked to be anonymous, all the case companies are presented anonymously in the study. There is a description of case companies on page 69 in the form of table 1, which is constructed in a way that maintains anonymity of case companies. Furthermore, chapter 4 provides information about the case companies along with research findings.

When considering data collection methods, semi-structured interviews were selected due to their compatibility with research objectives and research design selected. As case companies are significantly different from one another, this type of interview was required in order to skip or modify some questions in some of the interviews due to organisational context and its interface with the research topic (Saunders et al., 2016, p.

391). Interview questionnaire that was prepared for interviews included open-ended questions in order to provoke discussion around the topic (Silverman, 2001, p. 109-111).

Furthermore, interviews were conducted as distance meetings with company representatives. As all of the case companies are using Microsoft Teams application, it

was the most suitable means to conduct distance meetings. All of the interviews were recorded with the permission of interviewee and transcriptions were done basing on the recordings afterwards. Moreover, one of the interviews was conducted in English and others in Finnish. Interviews lasted from 45 minutes to 90 minutes.

Company Interviewee Industry Number of employees

Along with primary data gathered in the interviews, secondary data is also utilized in order to create stronger basis for research results. When considering purposes of this study and the requirement of profoundly analyse findings, it is vital to also utilize analyses of data that were collected initially for some other purposes (Saunders et al., 2016, p. 316). Thus, it is also essential to gather secondary information from annual reports and from brand finance agencies as brand performance part of the study requires some statistics and numerical information. Furthermore, analysis on secondary qualitative data is effective use of material collected priorly and it saves financial resources. (Corti, 2007.) In addition, it facilitates exploration of the data from novel point of view, makes possible to conduct comparative research in various contexts and also provides amplification of original study.

According to Glesne & Peshkin (1992, p.130) data analysis involves both organizing and sorting research data minding increasingly sophisticated impressions and interpretations. The underlying idea is to seek for meanings, patterns and themes (Swanson & Holton III, 2009, p. 236). According to Swanson & Holton III (2009, p. 240-425), there are four stages of qualitative data analysis: data preparation, familiarization, coding, and generating meaning. Basing on these stages of Swanson and Holton III, the data analysis was first transcribed carefully following the interview recordings. After that, the researcher familiarized herself with the interview recordings by listening them while also writing notes. The third step was to code information in order to group the data in meaningful categories. According to Coffey & Atkinson (1996, p. 26) this stage comprises ‘’generating concepts from and with our data’’. Finally, the last part of data analysis was to generate meanings. This part considered creative and intellectual task of exploring the themes appeared and also combining these themes to researcher’s ideas, the literature and prior research. (Swanson & Holton III, 2009, p. 240-425.) These meanings derived from research data form the basis of research findings.