This study will use qualitative inquiry as a research method. A qualitative study is a field of inquiry that enable the observer to make sense of the world in its real settings with the set of interpretive techniques, material practices and a naturalistic approach to view of the world (Denzin & Lincoln 2000:3). A qualitative method may use in-depth conversations or interviews with the interviewees in order for the researcher to gain access to the wide range of information that cannot be retrieved otherwise. Moreover, a qualitative method produces knowledge from the natural settings about a phenomenon under scrutiny that are modest (Erkisson & Kovalainen 2010). Also, through qualitative inquiry, the interviewer can also know the behavior, attitude and personal values of the interviewees and in so doing, also aid in the analyses of the information gained from several perspectives.
This study is intended to investigate how CQ capabilities facilitates Finnish business leaders in the context of the Indian business environment. Furthermore,
this study also intends to understand the experience, challenges and nuances of Finnish business leaders in the Indian environment. In this context, it is essential to obtain the experience of the Finnish leaders in an Indian business environment from their own written or spoken words and observable behavior (Bogdan & Taylor 1975: 4-5). The experience of Finnish leaders may be hard to quantify as the experience may differ from person to person, therefore, a qualitative method is the best possible way to explore how CQ facilitate the Finnish business leaders in Indian environment through their experiences.
The significance of this study is to employ a qualitative approach of CQ unique among existing studies on CQ and as discussed earlier. Moreover, there are several reasons for choosing a qualitative method for this study. First, this study needs flexibility and more rich and detailed results, cannot easily be obtained in quantitative study (Cooper & Schindler 2008: 160). By utilizing a qualitative approach, the data collection can be undertaken with flexibility in the real time setting of the interview. In addition, a qualitative method helps to pose questions that can be unexpected by the interviewee and extract the in-depth experiences from the interviewees. Moreover, with a qualitative inquiry, the interviewer is able to pose open-ended questions to the interviewee with the responses recorded as a natural conversation.
Second, this study needs a range of interpretive techniques that will be helpful to describe, decode and translate the obtained data which is attainable with qualitative method (Cooper & Schindler 2008: 160). As the data obtained from the Finnish business leaders are in a descriptive form, this requires sophisticated techniques to unveil the truth in the form of interpretation. By interpreting the data, one can understand the phenomena investigated with a deeper level from various angles.
Third, this study requires a qualitative approach as it focuses on a single phenomenon and it brings personal value to the study (Ghauri, Gronhaug &
Kristianlund 1995: 83). However, “a qualitative method required careful consideration of the phenomenon under study as well, since the researcher’s own assumptions and behavior may be impacting by the inquiry” (Watt 2007:82).
Moreover, not all phenomena can be studied through a quantitative method, therefore a qualitative method gives leverage to study the phenomenon in detail which is evident from this study as well. For instance, this study is concentrated on examining the phenomenon of how CQ facilitates Finnish business leaders in an Indian environment. To study the phenomenon, this study examines the experience of Finnish business leaders, this cannot be quantified by numbers and can only be accomplished through a descriptive study.
Fourth, by using a qualitative method this study will offer broader perspectives from Finnish business leaders on using CQ in an Indian environment from their original perspective. A qualitative method enables the researcher to explore concepts whose essence is lost in other research approaches. Likewise, a qualitative method will also provide a great opportunity to know the Finnish business leaders personally (Bogdan & Taylor 1975:4-5). By having personal interaction with the Finnish business leaders, a good rapport can be developed which will ensure harmony in order to have relaxed interview.
Fifth, the qualitative method serves as an instrument to describe as well as understand the human experience. From this study, this is apparent as it is intended to describe and understand the experience of Finnish business leaders in India (Myers 2000). Furthermore, Myers (2000) claims that “the major strength of the qualitative approach is the depth to which explorations are conducted and descriptions are written, usually resulting in sufficient details for the reader to grasp the idiosyncrasies of the situation”. Therefore, in the context of this study a qualitative method enables the readers to gain knowledge of Finnish business leaders´ mode of behavior, way of thought and raw emotions that are aligned to the Indian environment.
Sixth-qualitative inquiry brings flexibility in the interview process, as it is an interactive process between the interviewer and interview. For instance, the interviews can be conducted with the Finnish business leaders in variety of locations and also timings and can also be fixed according to the convenience of them. By being flexible, interviewees are motivated to respond to the questions in detail. However, the responses of the Finnish business leaders depend to what depth the researcher ask the questions and involve the interviewer during the interview process. Also during the interview, the interviewer is able to see the mental cues of the interviewee based on that interviewer can adjust his or her own behavior to make the interviewee comfortable.
The previous studies undertaken in investigating CQ theory has been heavily concentrated on quantitative methods. As CQ theory is relatively new, it requires several methods to investigate its applicability across different contexts. Although the CQ quantitative scale has been verified, it is not clear how the theory itself is applied in different contexts. Therefore, one of the reasons this study has chosen a qualitative method, is that as this study is focused on investigating the theory in the context of the Indian environment.
Furthermore, qualitative research helps the researcher to understand how people make sense of their lives, experiences and their structure of the World” (Atieno 2009). Also a qualitative inquiry makes the possibility for interviewer to become
deeply involved in a particular research setting and understand the experiences of the interviewees as closest as possible. The information gathered through the qualitative inquiry is unstructured and can be interpreted from a wide range of perspectives. Furthermore, qualitative method helps to find out how, why, who, what, etc., from the interviewees, which cannot be captured from other methods such as a quantitative method. For instance, Eriksson & Kovalainen (2010: 5) claims “qualitative methods provide better understanding of issues that have remained unclear in quantitative method”. In the qualitative inquiry the interviewer is able to repeat the questions several times and also explain the questions in detail so that the accuracy of the information collected can be more ensured. For instance, qualitative inquiry helps to uncover the complex phenomena in a detailed manner which may not be easier in a quantitative method.