EG2116 Research Techniques

1. EG2116 Research Techniques Research Case Studies in Experimental Design: Business Response to the Environmental Challenge

2. Good Research Design is…… Like a Christmas Cracker!!

3. Cleaner Technology Development: A Case Study Developing a research strategy: • Why is the topic important? • What exactly is it about the topic that interests you (i.e. what is your perspective)? • Begin to read relevant literature • Don’t panic! Seek help in refining possibilities. • Define your core research aim(s).

4. Core Aim To evaluate the effectiveness of government attempts to stimulate the development and diffusion of cleaner technology

5. How to deliver on this core aim? There are always a range of possible approaches to delivering on the core aim. The key to a successful research project is to define appropriate subsidiary objectives to enable the core aim to be achieved. There is no wrong or right answer here rather the quality of the response is in the ‘practicality’ and ‘deliverability’ of the objectives.

6. Research Objectives • To review national government attempts to promote cleaner technologies. • To identify cleaner technology development priorities emerging on the international stage • To examine the process of cleaner technology development from the perspective of the innovating companies. • To evaluate public policy initiatives in the light of the company experiences.

7. Methodology Having set key data collection challenges; the next question is how to undertake the identified tasks. The methodology outlines the rationale behind the data collection approach adopted as well as describing the techniques involved. Again, there will also be a number of options!

8. Our Approach – Warts and All! • UK-Danish policy review – why? • Review of EU policy initiatives Together this allowed a reasonably comprehensive review of public policy making. Data collection involved literature and documentary analysis supplemented by in-depth interviews with key actors.

9. Our Approach – Warts and All! • Company perspectives derived from the experiences of a small number of successful innovators (identified in a DOE booklet - Clean Technology, 1989). Corporate literature and in-depth interviews were used to build up a picture of the motivations for action, changes that ensued and the benefits derived from the technological advances. These case studies revealed the extent of the influence of corporate context in determining the response to pressures for environmental improvement. • Policy initiatives evaluated in the light of the corporate case studies

10. Strengthens of the Approach • Explorative approach reflected state of knowledge. • Macro and micro analyses provided ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ perspectives. • Micro analysis provide a ‘yardstick’ by which to evaluate the effectiveness of public policy initiatives. • Reflexive and serial nature of the data collection enabled the gradual construction of ‘models of the world’ using a grounded theory approach. • ‘Successful’ case studies revealed obstacles to development effectively.

11. Weaknesses of the Approach • No differentiation of results according to size of company or sector. • Difficult to corroborate company representatives’ contributions (range of inputs!). • Inter-national comparisons fraught with problems. • How representative was the sample. • Is the ‘best of the best’ a reasonable rationale for selection? ( how representative?). • What about the failures? • How might wider data coverage have added to the analysis? (breadth versus depth).