Case Study Methodology in Business Research

One way of reading and using this book is linear. This is recommended particularly if the book is used as a textbook. The reader could start with Chapter 3 and then follow the development of the narrative through Chapters 4, etc. If this book is used as a companion guide for students in the process of designing and conducting their own research project, we strongly recommend using the flowcharts which specify each separate stage of the project (see 1.4.2 “Suggestions for students” and Appendix 3). The contents of the boxes and the flowcharts are discussed and explained in the corresponding chapters of the book. Some readers might be interested in reading about specific topics only. Tables 1.3 and 1.5 map the contents of this book in such a way that these readers will be able to locate the text parts that are relevant to them. Our approach to research in general and the case study in particular is characterized by a consistent conceptual structure which is only partly visible in the linear structure of the text. This conceptual structure is made explicit in the Glossary (see Appendix 5) which contains definitions of all important terms. Bold print in the text refers to this glossary. Because some of our definitions differ considerably from definitions in the literature, we recommend the reader who encounters a term in bold, to always read the relevant entry in the glossary, and to follow the references to other terms in the glossary.