CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.2 T HE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE LITERATURE STUDY
Conceptual frameworks are convenient to organise the extant literature of the study.
They can be used to create conceptual discrepancies, identify synergistic views and shape accepted wisdom around the research topic.
The literature in the field of study of this thesis is overwhelmed with marketing hype as suggested by McManus and Scornavacca (2005), and in order to ensure the scientific value of the study, the literature study was framed around an established framework based on the seminal works of Locke and Golden-Biddle (Locke & Golden Biddle,1997; Golden-Biddle & Locke, 2007). Alvesson and Sandberg (2013) regard the works of Locke and Golden-Biddle to be appropriate for interdisciplinary research in the fields of sociology, psychology, information systems education, political
science, etc. In their strategic management research Golsorkhi et al. (2010) relied on the works of Locke and Golden-Biddle (Locke & Golden-Biddle,1997; Golden-Biddle
& Locke, 2007) to produce a systematic introduction to the various epistemological, methodological and theoretical aspects of the strategy-as-practice approach. Their approach breaks down many of the traditional paradigmatic boundaries in strategy to investigate who the strategists are, what they do, how they do it, and what the
consequences or outcomes of their actions are. In consideration of the views of Golsorkhi et al. (2010) and Alvesson and Sandberg (2013), this study regards the works of Locke and Golden-Biddle (Locke & Golden-Biddle, 1997; Golden-Biddle &
Locke, 2007) to be very appropriate. In opposition to the work of Locke and Golden- Biddle, Shields and Tajalli (2006) present some forms of conceptual frameworks, but because of their focus on constructing and problematising the literature, the approach of Locke and Golden-Biddle (Locke & Golden-Biddle, 1997; Golden-Biddle & Locke, 2007) was again preferred for the analysis of the extant literature in this study.
This study aimed to fill the gap that appears to exist for development agencies in addressing the benefit that business model innovation presents in response to
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disruptive innovation for the commercialisation of mobile application development to SMEs.
The purpose of this literature study was to provide context and guidance to this study.
With this in mind, the literature would elucidate scholarly enquiry into the sub- discipline by providing (1) key terminology with which to frame the narrative discourse; (2) perspectives on the state of the art; (3) prevailing challenges and emerging conceptions; (4) validation for the proposed study; and most importantly, (5) specific lines of enquiry to inform the focus (and delineation) of the study.
The literature study should be regarded as a creative endeavour and should, as far as possible, avoid simplistic quotations from the literature or paraphrasing text to provide snippets of insight into the literature.
The science of this literature study has extensively been dealt with by Locke and Golden-Biddle (1997) and Golden-Biddle and Locke (2007) who suggest a structured approach to the literature study. The authors contend that it is important to launch the study by drawing from the literature to firstly indicate the significance of the
study. Secondly, the scope of the body of knowledge relevant to the study is established, in which regard the authors introduce the notion of ‘intertextual
coherences’. The authors introduce the notion of three forms of coherence, namely, (1) synthesised coherence, i.e., the linking of literature contributions from seemingly unrelated sources; (2) progressive coherence, i.e., the linking of literature
contributions within a specific focus area that reflect the development of knowledge over time; and (3) non-coherence, i.e., contested knowledge. The authors refer to this process of establishing the coherences as "constructing the literature". They refer to the third step in the process as "problematizing the literature", which is about
uncovering "gaps" in the literature. Locke and Golden-Biddle (1997, p. 31) and Golden-Biddle and Lock (2007) suggest three ways of categorising literature gaps, namely, (1) incomplete, which may or may not be so indicated by the relevant
authors; (2) inadequate, owing to oversight, lack of application or relevant perspective by the relevant authors; and (3) incommensurate, where the conception has been incorrectly dealt with by the relevant authors. Finally, this study declared the
"opportunity for contribution". The challenge of this study was, therefore, to propose theoretical and methodological insights that might close the gaps in the extant literature.
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At the outset, the literature study required a plan to depict what this study wanted to achieve and how it would go about doing so.
Pragmatically, the literature study identified the key tenets of this study as formally declared in Chapter 1. The literature study was constructed in categories consistent with the key tenets by means of information gathered from journal articles and related sources to inform each one of the key tenets. Furthermore, this study identified the essential knowledge contributions drawn from each article or resource. This is
presented in tabular format followed by more detailed analysis in later discussion. The knowledge contributions per category were evaluated and consideration given to whether they constituted a scenario indicative of synthesised, progressive or non- coherence as recommended by Locke and Golden-Biddle (1997) and Golden-Biddle and Locke (2007). Furthermore, I then extended the evaluation of literature
(intertextual) coherences by identifying gaps and potential for contribution to this study.
In order to "construct opportunities for contribution" in this study, various tools of logic and argument as recommended by Meyer and Lunnay (2013) were used. These are namely, (1) deductive logic, where specific conclusions or inferences are drawn from a general principle or established premises to inform my own related context; (2) inductive logic, where general principles or inferences are drawn from specific observations or related observations (in the literature) to establish a new
generalisation or new principle; (3) retroductive logic, where inferences are drawn from related observations that explain the mechanisms of an already commonly held position; and (4) abductive logic, where inferences are drawn from unrelated
observations that stimulate intuitive and creative realisation of a new idea.
This study suggested that knowledge is never value free and is always underpinned by philosophy, something to be considered when engaging in this literature study.
Positivists, interpretivists, and pragmatists will not view data and information in the same way. The epistemological approach of Positivists is essentially objective;
Pragmatists are both subjective and objective in solving problems of utility; Critical Interpretivists are subjective but are most considerate of the manifestation of social powers; and Critical Realists
are focused on uncovering the causal powers that explain reality. Since the study is required to develop inferences about the literature and contribute to the ‘body of knowledge’, all of these are based on the philosophical stance declared in Chapter 1.
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Further detailing of this study’s ontological and epistemological approaches are declared in the methodology section in Chapter 3, where the data–information–
knowledge cycle in support of the research is comprehensively articulated. This literature study axiomatically formed an essential aspect of this cycle in this study.