QUALITATIVE RESULTS
5.2 Research Methodology and Sample Selection
The units of analysis are high-level department managers from selected government agencies in budget planning that are directly and indirectly associated with narcotics budget planning activities. In accordance with the visibility of their objectives and their responsible activities, the selected departments included director and deputy director levels. Agency structures were varied: some units had limitations on management and the number of employees, while others had various subdivisions within different departments. With a variety of agency sizes, employees and responsibilities, these approaches were studied through the focal point of this study and their involvement in the firms’ budgeting activities. This may clarify whether there is homogeneity or heterogeneity in budgeting-related outcomes in the agencies within Thai government. However, in order to stay away from prejudice by only determining recognized policy contributors, the decision was made to involve firms that have been recognized as having strong IBP implementation.
Through personal connections, the researcher was able to locate three high-level executives from different selected departments and different units of budget planning
departments. These high-level executives included Director Level 8, Senior Advisor Level 10, and Deputy Director of Budget Bureau Level 10. Due to the research’s scope and constraints, this sampling did not entirely appear for budget involvement in the government, although an effort was made to sample the broadest variety of objectives and their feasible responsibilities within the scope of this research. As Glaser and Strauss (1967) explained, “the purposive method of sampling is complemented by the comparative method of sampling, which allows choosing instances representative of different aspects of reality.” Therefore, choosing a variety of different managers from mixed industries and different hierarchical levels of agencies defined the persons behind the process of choosing and implementing socially-responsibility action who would be able to help understand the firms and their activities as a whole (Glaser &
Strauss, 1967). As Hales (1987) summarized, it was needed to be made clear that the role of managers is usually supposed to be more of finance-oriented and operation- oriented management. Thus, shareholders or owners demand an effective management that differs in degree of uniformity and complementarity (Hales, 1987, pp. 26-34).
With reference to confidentiality, useful information obtained from the interviews and the following discussion was included in this study without any reference to the participants’ names, participants’ firms, or job positions. Reference to the participants and participants’ positions was coded and is presented in Table 5.1.
5.2.1 In-depth Interview
In-depth interviews are normally carried out face to face so that an affiliation can be created with the respondents. Body language is also used to add a high level of understanding to the answers. Telephone interviews were also used by the researcher with little loss of data and at a tenth of the cost. The style of an interview depends on the interviewer. Successful in-depth interviewers listen rather than talk. They have a clear line of questioning and use body language to build rapport. The interview is more of a guided conversation than a structured question and answer session.
The effective budget of any organization leads to the goals’ realization. The realization of goals in an organization is used to describe how successful the organization is or is becoming. The failure of the same describes the opposite.
Therefore, goal realization in an organization is supposed to be reflected by its growth
through attaining its goal, for example increasing its market share. One way of having an effective budget is through the proper use of an appropriate computer system. Most budgets prepared in organizations are aimed at achieving organizational goals. One of the approaches is involving staff from a development department in the budgeting process. However the organization may decide to adopt or not to adopt such approaches.
As such, adoption of the involvement of all staff in budgeting influences transparency in the organization. In situations where staff are involved there will be transparency, hence this reduces mismanagement of organization funds. A deeper understanding of the state of the organization is the ultimate goal of all representations in budgeting and budgetary control. Management's task is to find the reasons for the variances and to take proper action to bring operations in line with the budget. In some cases the variances and trends might indicate that the standards need amendment.
The interviews were conducted using a discussion guide with semi-structured questions which facilitated the flushing out of the respondent’s views through open ended questioning. Nonetheless, projective techniques could be incorporated into the interview, as illustrated in Table 5.1 for the participants list.
Table 5.1 Coding of the Participants’ Position in Agencies
No. Position in Agencies Date Code
1 Director Level 8 Aug 17, 2016 Exec 1
2 Senior Advisor Level 10 March 09, 2017 Exec 2 3 Deputy Director of Budget
Bureau Level 10
June 14, 2017 Exec 3
As can be seen from this table, the participants’ positions in the agency hierarchy formed a heterogeneous sample, which allowed the researcher to explore the perceptions toward IBP exhibited by them at different managerial levels. The analysis of executives’ attitudes and perceptions with regard to budgeting activities is presented further in this study with appropriate characterizations and classifications.
5.2.2 Observations
Observation is the active acquisition of information from a primary source. In this study, observation employed the senses of the participants involved in budgeting and policy processes for budget planning. In science, observation can also involve the recording of data via the use of scientific instruments. The term may also refer to any data collected during a scientific activity (Creswell, 2009). Observations can be qualitative, that is, only the absence or presence of a property is noted, or quantitative if a numerical value is attached to the observed phenomenon by counting or measuring.
The researcher attempted to produce the most inclusive and attentive discussion on events related to the influence on agencies’ and inter-agencies’ values for seminars and training event announcements, such as with annual budget planning seminars arranged by the budget bureau for budget personnel training. Empirical evidence from various studies at different levels shows that for an organization to achieve its goals it has to point out its goals, then budget for them with adequate and sufficient funds.
However, for the budgeting process to be fruitful many prerequisites are needed, such as creation of budget centers, the usage of adequate accounting records, establishment of a budget committee, preparation of a budget manual, a budget period and determination of the key factors that are to be given priority. In consequence, this study discovered that, among ten factors, there was a significant relationship between budget performance factors and inter-organizational factors toward EIB. This result was confirmed by IBP, which claimed that by performing these new practices, a department could instantly become more robust in their financial position. These observation events are illustrated in Table 5.2.
Table 5.2 Coding of the Observations
No.
Position in Agencies Date Code
1 Annual budget planning seminar Oct. 2016 Obs 1 2 Annual budget planning seminar Aug. 2017 Obs 2 3 Non participated observation May 01-03, 2017 Obs 3
4 Training Sep 28 – Nov 07,
2018
Obs4