Qualitative single case study

Paper 2 applies a qualitative single-case study approach to examine the legitimation of English as an organisational language in one multinational corporation (MNC).

Single case studies have been argued to provide depth and contextuality in the investigation of one instance of a given phenomenon (Piekkari, Welch and Paavilainen, 2009; Welch et al., 2011; Welch and Piekkari, 2017). This research approach is also suitable for studying the conditions of organisational mechanisms and relationships (Vincent and Wapshott, 2014). As opposed to variable-oriented research, which focuses on the quantity of occurrences as a basis for generalisation and might favour a high number of cases, single case studies provide an opportunity for the researcher to attempt immersion in the case environment, apply multiple methods, consider multiple perspectives within the case, and produce a contextualised explanation (Welch et al., 2011).

The advantages linked to contextuality and depth in single-case studies depend on a careful consideration of the case’s scope and what it is a case of. This step is crucial for the accuracy and credibility of the theoretical contribution of a single case study. With the support of a critical realist ontological explanation of the stratified social reality, Carter and Sealey (2009) argue that the researcher produces the categories which determine what the empirical object of inquiry is a case of.

When ‘casing’, the researcher needs to acknowledge their own role in using linguistic labels to describe and categorise the phenomenon they are researching.

Thus, it is necessary to separate the theoretical case unit from the empirical case

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unit. The following discussion of the empirical case presented in Paper 2 demonstrates these considerations in practice.

The main guiding criteria when initially selecting the case for the thesis has been to find an international organisation which uses English as an organisational language in a linguistically diverse predominantly non-native speaker context. As research has mapped native versus non-native speaker relations in English workplace contexts (Hinds et al., 2014; Neeley, 2013; Neeley and Dumas, 2016;

Sliwa and Johansson, 2016), I sought to explore the role of a global lingua franca in contexts where its legitimacy is not based on a local/native language status. As English does not have an official status in such contexts, the foundations and implications of the organisational language status emanate rather from social assumptions about the role of English as a foreign, but common professional language. Furthermore, I sought an organisation which spans across several national contexts where English has different degrees of presence as a foreign language.

Extant studies of English as a corporate/organisational language have found that diverse organisations with offices in various geographic locations will perceive and use English as a common language differently (Kroon, Cornelissen and Vaara, 2015). Factors within one geographic location, such as local language linguistic distance/proximity to English, the prominence of English as a foreign language in the national societal and business climates, or internationalisation of the workforce may all influence the degree to which employees master English and believe that the language is and should be an organisational language. Finally, organisational change and restructuring was another criterion in the case selection. Since language policy and common languages have been found to exacerbate intra-organisational imbalances (Hinds et al., 2014; Neeley and Dumas, 2016), also in periods following mergers, acquisitions and organisational restructuring (Kroon et al., 2015; Piekkari et al., 2005), I sought to find a context where workforces have recently been united and beliefs about language are likely to vary across contrasting contexts.

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Defining the scope of the case study requires the separation of the theoretical unit of analysis from the empirical. ‘What a research subject is a case of’ is a central question in this approach (Carter and Sealey, 2009; Piekkari, Welch and Paavilainen, 2009). Ragin (2009) notes that ‘casing’ is a key process in an emergent case study, as the empirical research focus evolves over the course of the study, while the researcher processes the data in relation to theory, reformulates the focus, selects and re-selects suitable theoretical frameworks, and finally, ideally, conceptualises the theoretical case, and thus the theoretical contribution of the case study. On the one hand, I am investigating a multinational corporation with a global reach using English as an official language. I began the empirical work with evaluating the language policy and its organisational context as the empirical case.

On the other hand, when moving from the empirical unit to the theoretical case during the course of the analysis, I reconceptualised the discourse concerning English, including the language policy documents, as a case of ideology-based legitimation of English as an organisational language.

When exploring different options for a case, I have also had to strike a balance between my theoretical motivations and access options. I gained access to the current case through the corporation’s representative in the international research consortium I have been part of. During an exploratory discussion, the contact indicated that the organisation matched my criteria and outlined a post-merger context while emphasising challenges in the integration process. Subsequently, they helped me organise a shorter visit to a Danish office site and a longer research stay in one of the organisation’s Spanish offices, allowing me to plan my empirical work.

Before encountering this corporation, I had contacted several other organisations which were not interested. Therefore, I was compelled to accept the first corporation which accepted my proposal. While the case MNC matches my baseline criteria, it also hosts an undefined/informal language policy. Although I had not accounted for this criterion initially, it proved to be crucial for the legitimation of English. Thus,

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the case study design acquired an emergent character. While this case matched my selection criteria and has provided a relevant and insightful context for my phenomenon of interest, it is also necessary to acknowledge the influence of unpredictable access conditions in the case choice process (Fjellström and Guttormsen, 2015).

Welch et al., (2011) differentiate between ‘emergent’ and ‘design’ logic in case studies. In a design logic, the researcher aims to prepare a theoretically grounded blueprint for the case study and specifies fixed research questions, units of analysis, and the theoretical contribution before engaging with the empirical work. However, the case study of this thesis applies an emergent approach which allows the study to adapt to the character of the case at hand. Although theoretical interests have guided the initial steps, an abductive relationship (Dubois and Gadde, 2002; 2014) between theory and data has allowed the focus to be narrowed down to the empirical units and research questions of theoretical relevance in the case. While I have initially been guided by a general interest in the implications of English language policy and its relationship to language practices, I quickly discovered that the uncodified and undefined nature of the English language policy, coupled with widespread and consistent claims that English is the corporate language in certain parts of the organisation, required a closer examination of the de facto organisational role of English (Sanden and Kankaanranta, 2018). Several studies have found that the relationship between language policy and practices may be ambiguous, either due to the absence of policy or a disparity between policy and practice. While I had accounted for this possibility, I discovered an unexpected parallel coexistence of language policy with an external branding focus and consistent employee claims that English is the ‘corporate language’. Thus, I began looking at these data points as the embodiment of the same underlying mechanism, rather than focusing on the relationship between them. This led further to an analysis of the language policy document and interview data from employees in the

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Danish/German part of the organisation, as both of these sources exhibited traits of language ideology. The use of English appeared to be explained with discursive strategies, which, in turn, indicated the explanatory power of the discursive legitimation concept.

The researcher’s interpersonal skills and ability to negotiate access (Fjellström and Guttormsen, 2015) play an important role in the emergent case study. The final composition of individuals and sites which feature in this case study is the result of my efforts as an individual navigating in the organisation. Although I have enjoyed immense help from key contacts in the organisation, some opportunities for data access have been missed due to my inability to establish contact with the necessary organisational members. Negotiating access is an interpersonal activity, where I, as the researcher, have had to present an agenda which was both feasible and perceived as legitimate by my organisational contacts (Andoh-Arthur, 2019). I did not experience direct hindrances in receiving access during the time of field work. However, being unfamiliar with the organisational structure and dynamics made it challenging to know whom exactly I should have been directed to. Furthermore, as my primary contact was based at the Danish site and appeared to have a wide network there, the access conditions for interviews were best in the Germanic branches of the organisation, despite the fact that I physically stayed in the Spanish site the longest.

This emergent case study has also been defined by the unpredictability of the field. Although most of my conscious choices concerning the research design (not to be confused with design logic) of the empirical project have been guided by a theoretical interest in generating accountable and relevant data, there have been several major contextual factors beyond my control which have influenced the final case study. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on physical access to the case organisation. When the pandemic broke out in Europe in early 2020, I had to terminate field work in the organisation’s offices in Spain halfway

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into my stay. The following six months required me to carry out the remaining research virtually. Following the state of emergency, several interviews were postponed and eventually cancelled. Communication was also slowed down due to the increased workload on most employees. The remote mode of study shortened my existing plans in the Spanish context and limited my options to observe other physical sites than the offices located in Denmark and Spain. As the organisational employees were also performing work remotely, the interfaces and exchanges between them were limited to online spaces. The data I had generated before the pandemic is therefore the main bulk of data analysed in the second paper.

A key strength of the qualitative single case study is the opportunity for multiple methods. However, a crucial specification is on which basis the case study researcher sees this as a strength. A more functionalist view of the case study’s multi-method strengths would emphasise how one method compensates for the insufficiencies of another (Welch et al., 2011). In mixed-method case studies, quantitative methods may be applied to compensate what some scholars see as the inability to generalise from smaller samples of qualitative data. Such studies will aim for congruence, where the different data sources correspond to, and confirm, the findings of the other. However, the case study approach assumed here emphasises the strength of diversity rather than the convergence in multiple sources (Brannen, 1996). The ability to examine the multiple perspectives and levels of analysis which different data sources offer has allowed me to examine how English as an organisational language is documented, perceived and legitimised. I have not aimed for these perspectives and levels to converge on the same explanation, in order to consider the theoretical contribution valid. Differing, or even conflicting, perspectives function as valuable empirical material for a contextualised explanation of a phenomenon.

53 Table 2: Data overview (Paper 2)

Corporate documents: ^Length:

Language guide 59 pages Principles of communication 4 pages

Interviews: ^{Format: Number:}

HR Business Partners/Project managers/Team lead

3 physical 4 audio calls

7

Internal Communications Audio calls 3 Participant

observation:

Duration of stay: Volume of data:

Spanish communication office

2 months 46 documents of bullet point notes (average length: 0.5 page)

Danish HR office 2 Days 1 page of bullet points

Online meetings in HR and communications

2 x 1 hour meetings 2 pages of bullet points

Virtual meeting recordings:

Participants: Length:

Language profiles present:

Office country involved:

Weekly meeting within communication department

German Spanish Danish English (UK)

English (US)

Spain Germany Denmark UK USA

56 min.

Weekly meeting within communication department

German Spanish Chinese (unknown variant) Danish English (US)

Germany Spain China Denmark

46 min.

Team meeting within communication department

German Spanish Danish

Germany Spain Denmark

50 min.

Informal virtual meeting 5 participants

English (UK) Spanish German Danish

Spain Germany Denmark

33 min.

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