Pär Åhlström

Longitudinal field studies are in-depth studies of change processes. They are case studies studying a phenomenon over time and often involve real-time studies of organizational phenomena, with the researcher being present in the organization. Research questions often concern how organizational change emerge, develop, grow, or terminate over time. Before entering the field, a framework for data gathering is critical. Longitudinal field researchers rely heavily on participant observation. To avoid going native, the researcher regularly withdraws from the field back to the academic environment. Analysing longitudinal field data is a challenging task due to the large amounts of data. Central to data analysis is data reduction. It starts with the writing of a narrative of the process. The narrative is divided into basic units of information, using explicit decision rules. The third step is to code incidents. The incidents are finally sorted and recoded. Generation of theory starts while the researcher is still in the field. The starting point for building theory is the incidents, but the interest is in the mechanisms underlying them. The analysis requires identifying sequences and patterns in the events. The theory developed needs to be constantly compared with existing theory.

This chapter concerns the research process - the sequence of activities that takes you from the start of a research project to publication. The focus is on a set of activities taking place in the early parts of the research process, before data are collected and analysed. The activities are generic and apply to all the different research approaches described in the remainder of the book. The first activity regards the importance of contributing to knowledge. To properly understand the research process, an understanding of its goal is necessary, which is to contribute to existing knowledge. The second activity is choosing a research topic, as any contribution to knowledge starts with finding a suitable research topic. The third activity is the literature review and various ways of using and misusing literature. The fourth activity is developing research questions, which are a fundamentally important part of any research process. The final activity regards some key considerations in choosing a research approach. In this the final part of the chapter three considerations in selecting a research approach are discussed: the achievement of methodological fit, the impact of the researcher's philosophical position and practical considerations.

From its manufacturing origin, the lean concept has been widely disseminated into services, including public services. The term “lean service” first appeared in Bowen and Youngdahl (1998) to describe how the tools and principles being derived in a manufacturing setting were applicable in a service context. There has since been an increase in the interest in lean service both in practice and in literature, with contributions now being published in top operations management journals (e.g., LaGanga, 2011).