1.3.4.1 Mixed methods
In this exploratory case study I use multiple sources for collecting data.
According to Yin, “...a major strength of case study data collection is the opportunity to use many different sources of evidence”, and he also claims that;
“...most of the better case studies rely on a wide variety of sources”. (Yin 1990)36 Yin describes six sources of evidence; 1) documentation, 2) archival records, 3) interviews, 4) direct observations, 5) participant-observation and 6) physical artefacts. Here I use both established and partly new and unusual methods for collecting different kinds of data, including documents, interviews, observation and physical artefacts. For example I collect visual information (data) through observation and photo sessions carried out alone; or during guided tours through the campuses together with key informants, including informal conversations with these. Photographs are also “sources of evidence” within visual sociology, as this is described by Becker. (Becker 2007) In the following I will describe the selection of the included countries and cases before I give a deeper description of my methodological approaches to the study.
1.3.4.2 Selection of countries and cases
Originally the Norwegian cases included in this study were meant to be pilot studies, but during the work I decided to include them equally with the others.
Thus Norway represents one of four countries in the study. The other countries included in the study, USA, Japan and France are selected on the basis of two main qualities; 1) their position in the development of modern art and architecture, and 2) their position as industrialized countries. In other words;
France is included because of its position as a leading country in the growth of Modernism within art, starting in the late 1800s with Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Cubism and the following styles. Similarly the USA is included because of its position as the cradle of new international art styles after World War II, starting with Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Minimalism and the following styles. Japan is included because of the country’s significant influence on Western Modernism, particularly within graphic art, design and architecture, starting with Art Nouveau in the end of the nineteen century in France which succeeded in parallel styles throughout Europe, such as Jugend in Germany, Sesession in Austria, Modernista in Spain and the Dragon style in Norway. The “Japan fever”, named Japonism inspired a lot of artists, included the Norwegian painter Edward Munch, and influenced the Pre Raphaelite artists as well as the Arts and Crafts Movement in England. After Europe the Japan
36 Page 96
fever spread to America, and continued to inspire artists, designers and
architects, such as one of the most influential Western architects in the nineteen century, the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright who spent a lot of time in Japan, (Birk 1996) and had a great passion for Japanese art. (Meech-Pekarik 2001)
The current countries are also included because they have in common that they are highly developed and industrialized countries, in respect of industry, technology and trade. In spite of economical recessions during the last decades, they are all rich countries, with a high Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rate. In the first decades of the nineteen hundreds, the USA had a leading position in
industrial production, due to the “moving assembly line” developed at Henry Ford’s automobile factory in 1913,37 and soon implemented as a main principle of industrial production in the West. But in the last decades we have been witnessing great changes within industrial production, where “Fordism” is transmitted into flexible accumulation; from in Case production” to Time production”. (Harvey 1989) While the main principals for the “Just-in-Case” production of Ford Motor Company was to manufacture and store a great number of automobiles, just in case someone wanted to buy them, the “Just-in-Time” production is driven by customer needs, and produced when the customer wants to buy them. According to Thompson and McHugh, the Just-in-Time system was originally developed by Toyota, and the Japanese mode of production became a model for industrial production also in the West. The establishment of Nissan in Washington in 1986 became the main source of (reinforcing) “The Nissan effect”, which led to an emulating of the Japanese practice in Western corporations, most prominently seen in the case of Ford.
(Thompson and McHugh 1995) The “after Japan” initiative led to new employee involvement programs, new management structures and a new corporate culture in Western corporations. With reference to the economist Erik Swyngedouw, Harvey describes the most distinguished features of the Just-in-Time production as; flexible and small batch production, no stocks, demand driven production, multiple tasks for employees, personal payment, more horizontal organization, and high employment security for core-workers. (Harvey 1989)
Originally I planned to include 2-4 random corporations from each country within the same type of industries, such as high-tech, oil and banking, to make the cases suited for comparison. Another option was to include corporations that were particularly known for their art collections or for their headquarters architecture. But as my inquires to different corporations about visiting and
37 http://corporate.ford.com/about-ford/heritage/places/highlandpark/663-highland-park (05.19.2011)
examining their headquarters sometimes succeeded and sometimes failed, it was not possible to choose freely which corporations I should include, and thus the included corporations represent both these categories. To get access to the corporations and establish contact with key informants, I first contacted persons within the corporations who could serve as “gate keepers”, and who I got in touch with by contacting embassies, corporate branches in Norway and Europe or by contacting the corporations directly. I met several hindrances, among other things by being a PhD-student. In Norway PhD-students are usually regarded as employed at a University or a University College. I learned that outside of Norway, PhD-students are often looked upon as “a student” similar to every other student and the policy of many corporations abroad is that they do not receive single students for research purposes. Instead I was often advised to find the information I needed on the corporation’s website. Which I actually also did on several occasions.
Because it was not possible to visit all of the included headquarters, I chose to visit some collections in corporate art museums that are open to the public, and observe some headquarters from the outside. All in all I examined seven art collections (including “accidental art”) through guided tours, and four art collections in corporate museums that were open to the public. One collection I had to examine through the presentation on the corporations website. Likewise, I examined the architecture of seven headquarters through guided tours, and five by external observation and other sources, such as relevant books, articles and corporate websites. The numbers of corporations from each country varies, and the 12 (11) corporations of which I examine the art collections, are not coherent with all of the 12 corporations of which I examine the headquarters architecture, but in 9 of the included corporations I examine both the art collection and the headquarters architecture. I examine 2 Norwegian, 5 US, 3 Japanese and 2 French art collections from the following industries; 4 high-tech industries, 3 oil corporations, 2 banking corporations, 1 tyre manufacturer, 1 jewelery firm and 1 law firm. Further, I examine the architecture of 2 Norwegian, 4 US, 4 Japanese and 2 French headquarters representing the following industries; 6 high-tech industries, 3 oil corporations, 2 banking corporations and 1 brewery. I examine both the art collection and the headquarters architecture in 2 Norwegian, 4 US, 1 Japanese and 1 French corporation.
1.3.4.3 Visual observations and photos
The use of photographs in sociological studies is broadly described by Howard Becker, who also discusses the principals of visual sociology. (Becker 2007) According to Becker, visual images and photography are sources of evidence and
can be used in a similar way as qualitative and quantitative data in sociological analysis. Still, using visual material tends to be seen as “unscientific” within sociology. Becker says this is odd, as photography is used frequently as evidence within natural sciences. (Becker 2007) Within social sciences however, only history and anthropology, often regarded as the “least scientific” disciplines use photography, while the “most scientific” disciplines, such as economics and political science do not. (Becker 2007) Although photographs in many cases speak for themselves, in a scientific context, it has to be integrated in a theory. In such a setting, photography can be used as data and documentation of social phenomena. As expressed by Becker on his website:
One picture does not tell a sociological story or make a sociological point, let alone build sociological theory visually. No more than one word or one paragraph would, one statistical table or one paragraph from my field notes. A photograph is evidence, data, and requires context to make its point…38
While photos in this sense show representations of reality, unless they are arranged or manipulated, visual art may also have similar, although indirect, qualities like the role of paintings and graphic prints before the development of photography. For instance the copperplate prints were reporting scenes from the society, architecture, rural and city life several centuries before the development of photography, and Realism artists like Gustave Courbet and Honoré Daumier were showing aspects of the society and the conditions of the nineteenth
century’s working class. Before the emergence of photography, realistic artworks inhabited a lot of important information and data on the society. In this study I use nearly 200 photos of architecture and visual art. Many of them are taken during guided tours through the corporate headquarters, some while I was walking alone, some when passing by other examples of interesting architecture, during walking tours like the flâneur, or from the car window, driving by. With few exceptions the photos are taken by me, representing images of architecture and visual art, creative works that each can be analyzed and interpreted independently. Here the photos function as data to illustrate the included cases, and other examples of art and architecture.
1.3.4.4 Informal conversations, group interviews and questionnaires
As described by the Norwegian psychologist Steinar Kvale, different kinds of interviews and informal conversations are common techniques for collecting qualitative data, which also implies several stages of preparation, conducting
38 http://home.earthlink.net/~hsbecker/articles/spq.html (07.30.2008)
interviews or conversations and analyzing collected data, as well as considering the problem of reliability, validity and generalization; although the latter is not usually the goal for qualitative examinations. (Kvale 1997) Originally I planned to conduct indepth personal interviews with employees in different positions, but as this turned out to be difficult to arrange by most of the included corporations abroad, I had to abandon that plan. Instead I managed to conduct informal conversations with my contacts and guides in the corporations I visited, who functioned as my key-informants in each case. My key informants are corporate people in different work positions such as executives, art curators, directors of the facilities and others. The benefit of using key-informants, is demonstrated in many well known studies, such as in the classical study “Street corner society:
the social structure of an Italian slum”, of the American sociologist William F.
Whyte, where “Doc”, a gang leader, played an important role for the researcher both in respect of getting access to, and being accepted within his gang. In addition, Doc also functioned as “an editor”, and contributed to verify and clarify observations and information. (Whyte 1993) Also the Norwegian sociologist Sverre Lysgaard emphasizes the utility of using key-informants in the classical Norwegian study “Arbeiderkollektivet”, on informal collectives between blue collar workers in a Norwegian paper factory. In Lysgaards study the leaders of the labor unions functioned as key informants, helping the researchers to get access to the factory, acceptance from the workers, and functioned as “editors” to verify and clarify observations and information. (Lysgaard 1985)
My informants in the corporations I visited guided me around in the current headquarters, to see the art collection or accidental artworks, and simultaneously they could tell me about the art and architecture as we were walking or sitting down. In the informal conversations I used a check-list, functioning as an interview-guide to ensure that approximately the same issues were covered.
During the tours we also met random employees and had some informal short talks with these, including issues on the corporations’ art and architecture. As my original plan on using personal employee interviews failed abroad, my key informants could still provide me with relevant information, and some provided me with additional information after I returned home. I was also able to get some answers from a few random employees through a short questionnaire. In addition to the informal conversations I conducted one traditional group interview, and one group meeting that was carried out almost like an informal group interview.
Here the first group consisted of random employees who made a heterogenic group, while the group meeting was held among corporate executives and an art curator, who formed a homogenous group. Both provided useful information, although the heterogenic group contributed with a more pro and contra
discussion in respect of art. As described by the political scientist Dag Ingvar Jacobsen the type of group can affect the balance of the discussion, (Jacobsen 2005) which was also the case here. In addition to informants and random employees within the corporations, I have had very useful informal conversations with art advisors and museum staff.
Because I was not able to conduct employee interviews to the extent that I originally planned, I had to adjust the direction of my study, and to use a greater part of other sources, such as corporate publications, books and websites. But one of the advantages of qualitative methods, as also demonstrated by Lysgaard, (Lysgaard 1985) and particularly in respect of exploratory studies, is that it is possible to adjust the direction of the study during the research process, as is partly the case here. Because of the possibilities of doing interesting explorations, it has also been my intention from the beginning of the project to be open to changes as well as unpredictable experiences and findings as the work progressed.
1.3.4.5 Document analysis
During the study I have also used documentary analysis, primarily in the meaning of studying relevant corporate documents and publications, such as brochures, booklets, annual reports and books which I have received during my visits, as well as catalogues and corporate websites, in order to get a deeper understanding of their visions and values, and how they emphasize and express the objectives of their art collections and headquarters architecture. To a certain degree this also implies elements of discourse analysis as this is described by the organizational theoreticians Mats Alvesson and Kaj Sköldberg including all kinds of “utterances and written documents”. (Alvesson and Sköldberg 2000) An interesting observation is however, that since I started to collect data around 2007 and until today 2011, several corporations have changed or increased their information on their websites, sometimes also in respect of their art collections, while others have removed information I found a couple of years ago. In one case the website was removed, as the corporation seems to be restructuring its
organization through a merging between branches and maybe with an external business as well. This only shows that corporations are indeed “living
organizations”, or to use one of the metaphors of the organizational theoretician Gareth Morgan, they are “living organisms”, (Morgan 1992) changing
constantly, which is actually the case with several of the included cases in respect of how they have developed and merged with other firms through the history. I also use relevant papers presented at conferences within sociology, visual sociology, art and architecture, and relevant literature and articles in scientific
journals, public websites and newspapers. I should also mention digital Internet based encyclopedias such as the authorized Norwegian “Store Norske
Leksikon”39 and Wikipedia; although I should add that these digital
encyclopedias are used only to provide “fast facts” on subjects such as the height of a building, the correct name of an artist, architect or an author.