From Hrm to Employment Rules and Lifestyles. Theory Development Through Qualitative Case Study Research Into the Creative Industries**

Zusammenfassung

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In contrast to result-driven publications in which the academic narrative constructs the process of data analysis and the conceptual framework as purposefully designed and inevitably leading to the findings, this article will take a closer look at the concrete development of interpretative schemes and the openness of this process. We will do so by referring to an extensive empirical study of the German theatrical employment system. Following the course of our research project, the article will explicate and discuss (1) the decision for conducting qualitative rather than quantitative research, (2) the identification and definition of 'what is the case' and how this decision was influenced by ongoing data interpretation and changing and new theoretical inputs, and (3) the question of the generalisability of our findings. The main focus of the article, however, will be to explore the relationship between data and theory. We hope to encourage researchers to creatively use the inherent openness of data interpretation, and we argue that the freedom of qualitative research can only be used in a productive way if methodological decisions and data interpretations are driven by theoretical reasoning. [PUB ABSTRACT]

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From Hrm to Employment Rules and Lifestyles. Theory Development Through Qualitative Case Study Research Into the Creative Industries**

Introduction

Qualitative research in general and case study research in particular have become an established research approach in management studies. An indicator for the increased use, quality and rigour of qualitative methods as well as the growing methodological self-reflection among qualitative researchers can be seen in the fact that a journal such as the Academy of Management Journal has awarded best paper awards to qualitative, case-based papers (e.g. Ferlie/ Fitzgerald /Wood /Hawkins 2005) and has devoted editorials (Suddaby 2006) and discussion forums (1/2007) to qualitative methods. One major issue in these discussions has been whether qualitative case study research can (and should) stimulate the advancement and development of concepts and theories (Eisenhardt 1989; Eisenhardt/Graebner 2007; Ridder/Hoon/McCandless forthcoming; Siggelkow 2007; Yin 2003).

This paper refers to an extensive empirical study of the German theatrical employment system in order to show how Human Resource Management (HRM) and organization theories can be advanced by conducting qualitative research methods in empirical HRM research. Our study was carried out between 2000 and 2004. We conducted about 50 semi- structured interviews, collected secondary data from a broad range of sources and were involved in participant observation. Whereas in the beginning our main research question was to identify prevalent HRM practices and the problems of managing a heterogeneous and fairly mobile workforce, the focus of the study as well as the theories and analytical frameworks employed changed during the research process. These developments included a shift from the firm level perspective to an inter-organizational level of analysis, which we conceptualised by using Marsden's theory of employment systems, as well as a shift towards workers' strategies with respect to competitive behaviours and the management of their work-life boundaries. Furthermore, the concept of lifestyle emerged in the process of data analysis and interpretation and was then further developed and backed up by theoretical reflections. The concept of lifestyle, which is common in sociological analysis but has yet hardly been taken up in HRM studies, has proved to be a powerful concept regarding the explanation of industry-wide employment rules and the co- evolution of organizational HR practices and workers' preferences and attitudes.

At the starting point of the empirical research project these outcomes were neither planned nor foreseeable. Rather, results of the study 'emerged' throughou...

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