Organizational Design for Knowledge Management

3

Real-World Access Methodology

The second part of this book aims to provide an answer to our questions, by way of an empirical study. Indeed, the construction of the conceptual framework and empirical analysis are two processes that are closely linked. The stitching together of the theoretical developments into a conceptual framework creates a frame of reference, which partly guides the collection and analysis of data. At the same time, the methodology employs conditions of the validity and reliability of the answers to our questions.

In section 3.1, we present the various methodological choices made in conducting this study.

In section 3.2, we present the field of research and its various evolutions. Indeed, our cross-cutting study has been able to track the significant organizational changes and radical restructurings of a merger between two worldwide telecoms groups.

In section 3.3, we outline the data-collection method.

To conclude, in section 3.4, we describe the resources deployed for the processing of the data collected.

Overall, the approach can be presented in this order, even though, in reality, there was a certain amount of to-ing and fro-ing between the different stages. As pointed out by Royer and Zarlowski [ROY 99], the search process is highly iterative, and the boundaries between the various stages tend to become blurred. The different activities (literature review, data collection and processing and analyses) are carried out in parallel, with the research focusing ...