Narcissistic Leadership and

Subordinate Counterproductive Work

Behaviour in the Healthcare Industry

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for

the Master’s Degree (MSc) in Management with HR

Adam Smith Business School

University of Glasgow

August 2020

Chapter 3: Methodology
This chapter describes how the following research will be conducted, and is divided into two key
sections: Research Design, where all decisions regarding theoretical underpinnings of this
methodology are explained, and Data Sources and Analyses, which centres on practical
characteristics of the study at hand.
3.1 Research Design
Prior to carrying out an empirical study, it is crucial for the researcher to decide on a design to
inform their thinking. Different considerations including research philosophy, approach, strategy,
methodological choice, time horizon and choice of data will be outlined in the following sections.

3.1.1 Research Philosophy

Research philosophies are concerned with beliefs and assumptions about how knowledge develops
(Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2016). Out of the five major philosophies in business and management
– positivism, interpretivism, critical realism, postmodernism and pragmatism, two opposites,
positivism and interpretivism, have been widely adopted by academics and received substantial
research coverage in Western science (Galliers, 1991). Positivism entails working with measurable
concepts, and can produce unambiguous, generalizable findings (Saunders et al., 2016). Such an
approach follows a scientific method, assumes that there is one true reality, and the researcher
remains objective throughout the process. In contrast, interpretivism assumes the existence of
multiple realities and interpretations, puts an emphasis on different stories and perceptions rather
than constructs, and researchers remain subjective through their own values. Its goal is to find out
why something exists and reveal individual experiences. Thus, an interpretivist philosophy can
produce more complex, richer findings regarding a specific phenomenon, albeit more open to
interpretation, and less generalizable across multiple contexts and settings.

As outlined in the literature review, studies on the topic of interest have used largely quantitative
designs to date, stemming from a positivist perspective, and the aim of this study is to investigate
why a particular behaviour occurs through looking at employee experiences. Therefore, the research
concept is not easily measurable, as individual perspectives can be subjective. In addition, no
consistent theoretical links have been identified in the literature, and this study aims to bring new
knowledge, which could contribute to subsequent theory development. Hence, an interpretivist
philosophy will be employed.

3.1.2 Research Approach

In order to be able to test data effectively and develop fresh theoretical thinking, one of two
contrasting approaches to conducting research is adopted (Saunders et al., 2016). Deductive
reasoning occurs when conclusions are logically derived from a set of premises, and allows the
researcher to test hypotheses and establish cause-effect relationships, producing more generalizable
findings, but pertains difficulties with regards to revealing why the relationship exists (Ketokivi &
Mantere, 2010). In contrast, in inductive reasoning the relationship is usually not so straightforward,
the context is imperfect, and new theoretical ideas or conceptual frameworks can be developed by
investigating themes (Ketokivi & Mantere, 2010). Accordingly, the current study will apply an
inductive approach, with the goal of identifying reasons for occurrence of specific phenomena,
rather than direct cause-effect relationships. Furthermore, since inductive approaches are
particularly concerned with the studied context, smaller samples are often used compared to
deductive approaches, which will also be incorporated in the current research design.

3.1.3 Research Strategy

The strategy chosen is that of a case study, which constitutes an in-depth inquiry into a topic or
phenomenon within its real-life setting (Yin, 2014), in order to understand the dynamics between
the subject and its context (Eisenhardt, 1989; Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007). By undertaking
intensive in-depth research, a case study methodology allows for the production of rich empirical
descriptions and theory development (Dubois & Gadde, 2002; Ridder, Hoon & McCandless Baluch,
2014). Case studies typically use archival records and documents, observation, ethnography,
interviews and focus groups, questionnaires and research diaries, and can comprise of single or
multiple cases (Yin, 2014). A single case is often used where it represents a critical, unique, or typical
case. Conversely, the application of multiple cases focuses on replicability of obtained findings,
which would increase data trustworthiness (Saunders et al., 2016). For the purposes of this
dissertation, a single case study has been selected as a research strategy, as it is likely to be
representative of a typical organisation within the healthcare sector, and will allow for the
investigation of relationships between managers and subordinates.

3.1.4 Methodological Choice

Academic studies are carried out with the use of quantitative and qualitative research methods.
Quantitative research deals with relationships between variables, numeric data and statistical
analyses, and has been linked to positivism, while qualitative methods use non-numeric data and are
often associated with an interpretive philosophy (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011), because researchers need
to make sense of the subjective and socially constructed meanings of the studied phenomenon. In
addition, mixed methods, combining both quantitative and qualitative techniques, can boost the
generalizability of findings and provide proof of data triangulation, i.e. that findings from the two
methods employed corroborate each other (e.g. Buck et al., 2009). However, such techniques can be
extremely time-consuming due to difficulties with integrating quantitative and qualitative data
(Hesse-Biber & Johnson, 2015). While mixed methods can provide additional benefits to the current
study and would be particularly suitable to the chosen case study research strategy (Saunders et al.,
2016), such a technique is beyond the scope of this dissertation, due to time and volume constraints.
Therefore, this study will employ a qualitative design, in order to investigate the subjective
experiences of individual employees within a company. Also, regardless of whether a study is
quantitative, qualitative or mixed-methods, research designs can be either mono method, employing
a single data collection technique and analytical procedure, or multi-method – using more than one
technique (Saunders et al., 2016). Semi-structured interviews will be required to obtain the
necessary information and investigate research questions, thus making the study design a qualitative
mono-method design.

3.1.5 Time Horizon

Time horizon refers to the nature of secondary sources used, i.e. how long the researchers took for
data collection. There are two types of time horizons in empirical research – cross-sectional and
longitudinal (Saunders et al., 2016). Cross-sectional studies examine a particular phenomenon at a
particular time, and longitudinal studies track changes, development and trends. Hence, a
longitudinal design can boost trustworthiness of data due to provision of multiple points of
comparison, whereas observations under cross-sectional designs can be more limited in that aspect.
Yet, a longitudinal design will not be necessary for the purposes of this study, since the goal is to test
relationship dynamics at a single point in time, and a cross-sectional methodology will be employed.
3.1.6 Secondary Data

In order to answer current research questions, secondary data – pre-obtained materials published in
online or physical databases, will be utilised (Saunders et al., 2016). Once obtained, these materials
can be re-analysed to provide different interpretations or conclusions (Bulmer, Sturgis & Allum,
2009). Advantages of using secondary data include saving resources, such as time and money
(Vartanian, 2011), as well as increased reliability, especially when collected by authoritative
institutions, compared to collecting own data in a short period of time (Smith, 2006). Furthermore,
reanalysing secondary data can lead to unforeseen or unexpected new discoveries (Saunders et al.,
2016). Still, certain downsides of secondary data need to be considered. For instance, since
information was originally collected for different purposes, it might not be able to provide
appropriate answers to current research questions (Denscombe, 2007). In addition, there is no real
control over data quality, and in some cases, secondary data can be hard or costly to obtain,
especially if collected for commercial purposes (Saunders et al., 2016). Therefore, despite time- and
cost-effectiveness alongside other positives, disadvantages of secondary data need to be carefully
weighed both during data collection and data analyses stages. This study will employ document
secondary data in the form of interview transcripts detailing employee experiences, which will be re-
analysed with the purpose of answering current research questions.

3.2 Data Sources and Analyses

Following the choice of research design, a sample appropriate for answering research questions
needs to be selected. Following this, measures and techniques for analysis will be identified.

3.2.1 Sample

The sample of the current study was sourced from the British Workplace Behaviour Study (Fevre et
al., 2014), which contains quantitative and qualitative data on behaviours within the workplace.
Following a survey of 3,494 respondents which investigated negative workplace behaviours, the
authors conducted full qualitative case studies in four organisations in different sectors: logistics and
communication, financial services, NHS, and engineering; and a smaller case study in a third sector
organisation. These interviews aimed to provide richer contextual information to support their
statistical findings. Out of the 88 interviews in the dataset, the 22 interviews on individuals
employed within the healthcare sector were selected for further inspection. The final sample
consists of 5 interviews containing employee descriptions of leaders with traits consistent with
grandiose narcissism.

3.2.1.1 Data Trustworthiness

While the quality of quantitative research is measured in terms of validity and reliability (Saunders et
al., 2016), in qualitative studies quality is indicated by trustworthiness of data, measured on four
criteria: credibility, transferability, dependability and authenticity, which relate to whether choice of
data allows the production of findings that are truthful, generalizable to other contexts, reliable and
consistent, as well as neutral and unbiased, respectively (Guba & Lincoln, 1989; Lincoln, Lynham &
Guba, 2011).

The original study was undertaken by a research team at Cardiff University, and funded by the
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) – UK's largest organisation for funding research on
economic and social issues (ESRC, 2020a). Thus, standards and policies implemented by the ESRC
(2020b) can corroborate data credibility. In terms of transferability, the current study only considers
the healthcare context, and uses a single-study method, with no triangulation as a method of data
validation. Nonetheless, this dataset was chosen as it represents a typical healthcare setting, and no
reasons for lack of transferability have been identified. As for dependability, the original dataset has
been used in printed publications, and while the quantitative dataset has been more cited, published
documents using the qualitative data also exist (e.g. Foster & Scott, 2015), which brings evidence for
the data’s authority and reliability (Dochartaigh, 2007). Finally, since interviews were carried out in
one-on-one settings where interviewees were encouraged to share their experiences, with the
promise of full anonymity, there is no indication of bias or inauthenticity.

3.2.2 Data Collection and Measures

Original data collection in the form of semi-structured interviews took place during the period
January-February 2008. Interviews were transcribed and deposited into the UK Data Service, and
were accessed for re-analysis in the current study. Leader narcissism is measured based on
employee descriptions, and only interviews where descriptions are consistent with traits expressed
by a narcissistic leader will be considered for analysis. Such traits include exploitativeness,
entitlement, arrogance, grandiose sense of self-worth, self-absorption, perceived superiority, fragile
self-esteem, hostility, domineering interpersonal style and fantasies of unlimited brilliance, power,
or success (Emmons, 1987; Rosenthal & Pittinsky, 2006). Further, behavioural expressions of such
traits frequently observed within organisations will also be taken into consideration, such as instant
likeability which later declines (Back et al., 2010; Ong et al., 2016), chasing admiration and status,
ignoring subordinates’ well-being and needs (Jonason & Webster, 2010), punishing individuals who
threaten them or give them negative feedback (Penney & Spector, 2002), taking credit for others’
successes (Boddy, 2006; Robins & Paulhus, 2001), and not involving subordinates and peers in
decision-making (Kets de Vries & Miller, 1985). In the selected interviews, counterproductive
behaviours towards the organisation, peers and supervisors will be recorded and analysed.

3.2.3 Data Analysis

Thematic analysis, defined by the search for themes, or patterns, that occur across a data set, will be
employed in this study (Saunders et al., 2016). Thematic analysis offers a systematic yet flexible and
accessible approach to analysing qualitative materials by using codes to identify clusters of data
(Braun & Clarke, 2006). Therefore, this technique will be particularly useful here to pinpoint patterns
of counterproductive behaviours displayed by employees as a result of narcissistic leadership. These
thematic patterns can be used to develop explanations, and can contribute to theoretical
understanding of the mechanisms at play.