The research design will encompass both literature and empirical research phases, as highlighted below.
1 It is thus expected that the overall project will entail three artefact versions, inclusive of 1) a development artefact (i.e. the decision-support framework) per the eADR diagnosis phase 2), together
1.6.1. Literature review
Hart (2009) states that a review of the literature is essential in that it forms the foundational knowledge of the research problem and topic under consideration. This includes understanding research already completed, how similar issues have been researched, the key issues, and what knowledge has already been generated. For purposes of this study, pertinent and supportive literature reviews will be conducted by means of relevant scientific journals, articles, books, published databases, and research documents. The intention is also to demonstrate the underlying assumptions of the study, indicate how potential literature gaps can be filled, and support all aspects required for the empirical phase of the study.
The aim of the literature study about this study is to build a solid literature foundation of the key micro- and macro-environmental analysis techniques, research and artefact design methodologies, and a better understanding of the potential challenges (and opportunities) Mozambique can present to business managers. Relevant portions of the literature study will be incorporated in the applicable sections and chapters throughout the study.
1.6.2. Empirical research
The knowledge acquired from the literature study will be used as the foundation upon which the empirical research will be based.
• Approach: It is often recognised that academics (focussed on their research) and practitioners (focussed on practical realities) have dissimilar intentions and disparate communication systems. Irrespective of such differences, there are ways to try and promote co-operation between academics and practitioners. The research approach of this study is founded in the design sciences, which encompasses a scientific approach to solve actual industry problems, while also endeavouring to learn from the process and giving back to academia.
• Design: In terms of the research design, the methodological paradigm of this project will fall in an interpretivist realm, while the theoretical grounding is to be based on stakeholder and stewardship theories. In a fast-changing business
differently. Stakeholder theory is cognisant of the internal and external stakeholder requirements, and stewardship theory is cognisant of corporate governance. The empirical study will be executed utilising the eADR approach, focussing on the external and internal business environment in which the case-study organisation operates, and will be recorded as an exploratory research project.
• Method: The organisation has representation in many African countries and the Middle Eastern territories, allowing it to access a vast pool of knowledge gained in each area. Collecting the external and internal environmental information will be done and will include SWOT and PESTLE analyses in identifying factors potentially influencing growth strategies. The focus will be to use public sources to develop data on competition, competitors, and the market environment.
• Data collection: The data-collecting process will focus on the Mozambican territories. The researcher-practitioner team concept will be used throughout the empirical research. In terms of the industry participants, the following are noted:
o The industry participants were identified and selected based on their expertise in related industries (pertinent to the case study organisation scenario) and the Mozambican business environment.
o In total 15 businesses operating in Mozambique, representing 10 different business sectors, were selected through purposive sampling to provide data in each of the iterative processes covered in this study.
Note that each iteration had a somewhat different participant (respondent) make-up, which is high-lighted within the relevant sections.
The choice of participants were largely centred on their shareholder, senior management or expat status, the markets they are operating in and their dependence on a stable economic environment.The decision on the size of the sample was based on the criteria for non- probability sampling and therefore kept relatively small.
o A guiding questionnaire was completed during semi structured interviews with selected participants who consisted of senior managers, directors and owners of businesses.
o Only generic, opinion-based data were collected – no personal data were gathered from any of the participants.
o No individual participant’s responses were shared with any other party, and where requested, only the collated findings were shared.
o All data and information are controlled by the primary researcher and stored in a password-protected environment.
o Semi-structured interviews were conducted with:
Decision-support framework and Alpha-design artefact:
- Past participants surveyed in the prior research project conducted by Du Plooy (2016).
- Additionally identified industry role players.
Beta-design artefact:
- Different industry participants, similarly-qualified due to the senior positions they hold in their companies, their experience in growing business operations in new territories and their hands-on experience operating in Mozambique.
o The structured interview guidelines are available in Annexure 1.
o The obtained empirical information will be used in the design of the various diagnosis and design iterations, utilising an eADR approach, aiming to address important unsolved problems in unique or innovative ways or solve problems in more effective or efficient ways per Hevner et al. (2004).
As per Mullarkey (2018), for a design-science generated artefact to be successful it needs to be able to solve a wicked business problem in a new or existing challenging problem domain with one or more innovative solutions being inspired, motivated and informed by practice, using a research-engrained approach that will generate new knowledge and practical information. The leadership of an organisation needs to question whether they have the necessary means in place and access to the required market intelligence that will enable them to determine how their stakeholders feel about them and highlight potential areas of improvement.
• Validation: Against the above contexts, and in approaching this project, two important aspects must be validated throughout, namely 1) there must be a sound
theoretical background upon which the research will be founded, and 2) it must address a real business conundrum. In the attempt to develop the envisaged model this research will evaluate the wicked business problem using the eADR approach.
Historically, the focus of validation practice has been on the statistical properties of a test or other measurement instrument, and this has been adopted as the basis of validity testing for individual and population assessments in the field of health (Hawkins et al., 2019). They draw attention to the fact that advancements in the validity testing theory hold that validity lies in the justification of a proposed interpretation of test scores for an intended purpose, the evidence for which includes but is not limited to the test’s statistical properties. Therefore, they conclude that to validate means to investigate, through a range of methods, the extent to which a proposed interpretation and use of test scores are justified.
The framework established from the above-mentioned eADR activities will be evaluated to verify the wicked problem and validate the developed framework before continuing to the design phases. During the Alpha-design phase the responses received from participants will be validated throughout the semi- structured interviews, and the design process will then be repeated in the Beta- design phase to warrant that the feedback received during the validation activities are incorporated in the improved artefact.