Social enterprises in the EU (IVOR nr. 111) 2018/3.2.2.1:3.2.2.1 Case study approach

Social enterprises in the EU (IVOR nr. 111) 2018/3.2.2.1

3.2.2.1 Case study approach

Deze functie is alleen te gebruiken als je bent ingelogd.Deze functie is alleen te gebruiken als je bent ingelogd.Deze functie is alleen te gebruiken als je bent ingelogd.

We opted for a case study approach, as this approach offers us an empirical inquiry method which investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real- life context.1 As Yin argues the method is used in situations ‘when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident and in which multiple sources of evidence are used’.2 This is very much related to the topic we want to examine, as was discussed in the previous section. The case studies in this article were developed on the basis of the following techniques:

(i)

the collection of interview data from interviews conducted with respondents from two randomly selected Greek social enterprises, i.e. Koinsep Merimna Ygeias (KMY) and Koinsep Ekati (KE); and

(ii)

the collection of relevant data from relevant documents, such as statutes, AoAs, annual reports and publications.

We conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews in 2014. These interviews involved individuals from various organisational layers: (i) shareholder level; (ii) stakeholder level; (iii) manager level; and (iv) employee level. We did not develop one single questionnaire to collect our responses, but instead developed four different questionnaires for: (i) shareholders; (ii) stakeholders; (iii) managers; and (iv) employees. However, in both Koinseps, because of their small size, the boundaries between ownership, governance, management and employees were not always entirely clear, and the titles of the respondents often overlapped. For instance, some of the Koinseps’ shareholders were also members of the managing committee, as normally happens in cooperatives, but at the same time they were also employees of the organisation. This is why we asked the respondents to indicate with which of the four titles they were affiliated the most. We then used one of the four applicable questionnaires for the interview. All interviews were conducted in Greek. The interviews were transcribed and translated from Greek into English by professionals. Following the interviews, we sorted the collected data into interview reports and interview transcriptions that we shared with the respondents, asking them for feedback and validation. The validation of the interview transcriptions and reports by the respondents was completed with follow-up questions to the interviewees for clarification purposes regarding words and expressions that were used.

Deze functie is alleen te gebruiken als je bent ingelogd.