Section 5: Research approach and methodologies

5.1: Planning action research

The purpose of the research is to ascertain to what extent has the organisational capabilities to delivery its reserch objectives. Furthermore, for the rationale of clarification,the following (5 stage) strategy analysis could be employed - modelled on Grant (1991, pp.1-2) - the resource-based theory of competitive advantage:

 1. Resources
2. Capabilities
3. Competitive advantage 
4. Strategy
5. Resources gap

 5.2: Mixed methods proposal
A mixed methods design was adopted - Cresswell (2007) - to conduct the research, because its methodology had the flexibility to accommodate an organisation's environment. In particular, a sequential explanatory design (SED) was used wher equantitative data is collected and analysed, followed by qualitative data

 5.3: The areas of research covered relates to:

 Execution of action research:
  • Identify a problem to be studied
  • Collect data on the problem
  • Organize, analyze, and interpret the data
  • Develop a plan to address the problem
  • Implement the plan
  • Evaluate the results of the actions taken
  • Identify a new problem
  • Repeat the process

 Examples: