Qualitative research focus on data that represent personal experiences in particular situations. Collected data is primarily nonquantitative but not exclusively. All kind of data, such as numerical measurements, photographs and indirect observations can be utilized. (Stake 2010, p. 88-89.) Qualitative case studies can embrace several data-gathering methods, such as interviews, documentation, record analysis, work samples and observation (Gillham 2010, p.13). In this research, the data is collected by making observations and conducting interviews with the employees of the case company. Also, quantitative data, such as marketing performance information is utilized in the study.
Interviews are the most used data collection method in qualitative research and an effective technique in discovering individuals’ and groups’
perceptions and opinions (Saldana 2011, p. 32). Interviews are used for finding out issues the researcher is unable to discover itself by only observing. Moreover,
Look - Gather relevant
information - Describe the
situation
Think - Explore and analyze:
What is happening - Interpret and explain:
How/why are things as they are Act
-Plan - Implement
- Evaluate
the purpose of interviews is to acquire unique information or interpretations held by the interviewees. (Stake 2010, p. 90-95) Interviews can be highly structured, comprise a set of prepared questions to be asked in specific order or be totally unstructured and consists only of certain topics. Interviews are not necessarily set up in advance, they can also happen spontaneously. (Saldana 2011, p. 32.)
In total, 18 interviews were arranged in three different phases of the implementation process, in August 2016 (the early stage), December 2016 (the middle stage), and February 2016 (the final stage). The interviews were conducted one by one and face-to-face. They were semi-structured, which means that the questions were planned beforehand and they were conducted in the same order with each participant. Nevertheless, the choice to use semi-structured interview as the data collection method, gave a possibility for the researcher to ask additional questions during the interview, when needed. The questions in the early stage were formed based on the theory and initial observations. The questions in the middle and final stages were based on previous interviews, observations, and progress being made in the implementation process.
The sampling method used in this research is purposeful sampling. When using this method, the persons who have the most valuable information considering the research subject are chosen to participate in the study (Patton 2002). As this is research is conducted as a case study, logically the employees of the company were interviewed (Table 3). Six employees were originally chosen to participate in the study, based on the likelihood of them providing substantive answers. In the company, they are the most involved in the implementation process and they represent different perspectives as they work in different roles in the company. The Sales Manager who was interviewed in August did not participate in two other interviews as he left the company in October. In this research, he was replaced by a new employee who started to work in the same position in the company. Therefore, he participated in two later interviews, and all other participants were interviewed three times.
Table 3 Interviews 2016-2017, Case company
Title and role/responsibility Interviews
CEO
• operates as the company director
• contributes to B2B sales
• supports other key activities
1. August 2016 2. December 2016 3. February 2017 Co-Founder & CTO
• vital role in product development
• contributes to B2B sales
1. August 2016 2. December 2016 3. February 2017 Marketing Director
• responsible for marketing with the author of this thesis
• participates in the implementation of the marketing automation system
• has a key role in brand management and web analytics
1. August 2016 2. December 2016 3. February 2017
Sales Manager 1
• responsible for B2B sales 1. August 2016
Sales Manager 2 (October 2016-)
• responsible for B2B sales
• key role in the implementation of CRM
1. December 2016 2. February 2017 Customer Success Manager
• responsible for customer service and B2B sales
• assists in marketing
• responsible for product development
• integrates CRM and marketing automation system to thoroughly in writing during an interview and worked through right after the interview was conducted. The data was transcribed and analysed first after each interview stage and then once again when all the interview data was collected.
In addition to the interviews, observations were carried out during the entire implementation process. Observation data is commonly exploited in qualitative research and it stands for the information the researcher can directly hear or feel (Stake 2010, p. 90-95). There are two forms of observations: detached and participant. In the former, the researcher is not involved in the case and he/she is more of a ‘fly on the wall’. Participant observation is more commonly used because the researcher is involved in the settings, for example by working there. An important part of this data-gathering method is to keep a record while observing (Gillham 2010, p. 21).
In this study, the observation data was collected throughout the implementation process, during 10 months (from May 2016 to February 2017).
The researcher was working in the case company so the form of participant observation was appropriate. During the research time, the researcher kept a research log in which the observations were recorded. The notes were based on observing the conversations in the company and progress being made with the marketing and sales activities, such as the growth in website traffic and lead generation. The final analysis of this research is based on the interviews, observations and quantitative data, such as the metrics provided by the marketing automation system.