Extension of Theory

Conceptual Overview and Discussion

There are several ways case studies can be used to assess the significance of theoretical additions to extant theory. These include using a comparative case method to tease out differences between the cases, thus highlighting important differences between them for further analysis (an ANOVA/MANOVA type of study). A case survey similarly examines potentially masses of cases to inspect the effects of particular factors on each of them, allowing for a quantitative assessment of patterns across a volume of case studies (a multiple regression type of study, notably Larsson and Finkelstein's study of acquisition success). When a research question is closely bounded within the context of an existing theory, using a set of theoretically relevant case studies to understand complex processes that occur in the context of this theory is appropriate.

Application

The following paragraph is an example of an application of extension of theory. For researchers exploring questions of how organizations can maintain and improve performance even in times of dwindling external resources, there is nowhere else to look but at how effectively they use their internal resources. The most relevant theoretical base from which to examine such a question is that encompassed within the theory known as the resource-based view of the firm, which suggests that the basis for a competitive advantage of an organization lies primarily in the application of the bundle of valuable resources at the firm's disposal. In this context, the concept of dynamic capabilities, a foundational internal resource allowing an [Page 377]organization to build ways to adapt to changing environments, is an appropriate starting point. Unfortunately, however, there is a gap in the literature addressing the microprocess questions of how actors make these internal capabilities work toward improving the organization's ability to perform. As such, it is necessary to study multiple cases of how these have worked in and across organizational settings to expose important procession dynamics: how and why certain processes unfold over time.

Two different studies of how managers at different levels in public sector healthcare organizations contribute to improved performance explicate the use of multiple case studies to extend existing theoretical models for how this might work. For example, Graeme Currie and Stephen Procter's study of organizational performance in the United Kingdom's National Health Service exemplifies work that successfully uses multiple case studies in a single industry setting to be able to generalize theoretically on the basis of the data collected from middle managers in four different hospital groups. This particular study extended previous theory on the role that middle managers play in creating and enacting strategies directed toward performance improvement. The findings of this work introduce a previously unrecognized set of contingency factors impacting the strategic role that middle managers are able to play in this effort, introducing the importance of role conflict and ambiguity-provoking behaviors that impacted outcomes.

...