Building Theories from Case

Study Research
Author(s): Kathleen M. Eisenhardt
Source: The Academy of Management Review , Oct., 1989, Vol. 14, No. 4
(Oct., 1989), pp.
532-550
Introduction

• Development of theory is a central activity in organizational research

• Traditionally, authors have developed theory by combining observations from previous literature, common
sense, and experience.
• However, the tie to actual data has often been tenuous (Perrow, 1986; Pfeffer, 1982).
• Yet, as Glaser and Strauss (1967) argue, it is the intimate connection with empirical reality that permits the
development of a testable, relevant, and valid theory.
• This paper describes building theories from case studies.
• the case study method is viewed with skepticism by those who consider it to be a weak form of research, one
that lacks rigor and objectivity.
• However, regardless of their purposes, case study research need to be conducted in a manner that assures
maximum measurement reliability and theory validity
The Case Study Approach

• The case study is a research strategy which focuses on understanding the dynamics present within single
settings
• Case studies can involve either single or multiple cases, and numerous levels of analysis
• Case studies typically combine data collection methods such as archives, interviews, questionnaires, and
observations.
• The evidence may be qualitative (e.g., words), quantitative (e.g., numbers), or both
• Case studies can be used to accomplish various aims: to provide description (Kidder, 1982), test theory (Pin
field, 1986; Anderson, 1983), or generate theory
Significant Contributions

• This paper attempts to make two contributions to the literature.

• The first is a roadmap for building theories from case study research. This roadmap synthesizes previous
work on qualitative methods (e.g., Miles & Huberman, 1984), the design of case study research (e.g., Yin,
1981,1984), and grounded theory building (e.g., Glaser & Strauss, 1967) and extends that work in areas such
as a priori specification of constructs, triangulation of multiple investigators, within case and cross-case
analyses, and the role of existing literature. The result is a more nearly complete roadmap for executing this
type of research than has existed in the past. This frame- work is summarized in Table 1
• The second contribution is positioning theory building from case studies into the larger context of social
science research. For example, the paper explores strengths and weaknesses of theory building from case
studies, situations in which it is an attractive research approach, and some guidelines for evaluating this type
of research.
Comparison with Other Literature

• The process described here has similarities with the work of others. For example, it has drawn upon the ideas
of theoretical sampling, theoretical saturation, and overlapped coding, data collection, and analysis from
Glaser and Strauss (1967).
• Also, the notions of case study design, replication logic, and concern for internal validity have been
incorporated from Yin (1984). The tools of tabular display of evidence from Miles and Huberman (1984)
were particularly helpful in the discussion of building evidence for constructs
• However, the process described here has important differences from previous work.
• First, it is focused on theory building from cases.
• Second, the process described here contributes new ideas.
• Third, particularly in comparison with Strauss (1987) and Van Maanen (1988), the process described here adopts a positivist view of
research.
Discussion

• The process of building theory from case study research is a strikingly iterative one. While an investigator
may focus on one part of the process at a time, the process itself involves constant iteration backward and
forward between steps.
• Also, the process is alive with tension between divergence into new ways of understanding the data and
convergence onto a single theoretical framework
• Each of these tactics involves viewing evidence from diverse perspectives. However, the process also
involves converging on construct definitions, measures, and a framework for structuring the findings. Finally,
the process described here is intimately tied with empirical evidence.
Strengths:
• its likelihood of generating novel theory
• the process of reconciling these contradictions forces individuals to reframe perceptions into a new gestalt

Weaknesses
• A hallmark of good theory is parsimony
• Building theory from cases may result in narrow and idiosyncratic theory.
• Case study theory building is a bottom up approach such that the specifics of data pro- duce the
generalizations of theory
Influencers on Instagram:
Antecedents and
consequences of opinion
leadership
Authors: Luis V. Casaló, Carlos Flavián, Sergio Ibáñez-Sánchez
Journal of Business Research 117 (2020) 510–519
Introduction
• Opinion leaders are important sources of advice for other consumers.
• Instagram is the most used platform by opinion leaders in the fashion industry, and this trend is expected to
continue in the near future.
• This study aims to identify some key antecedents and consequences of opinion leadership in this context. Our
results, based on data collected from 808 followers of a fashion focused Instagram account, suggest that
originality and uniqueness are crucial factors if a user is to be perceived as an opinion leader on Instagram. In
addition, opinion leadership influences consumer behavioral intentions toward both the influencer (intention
to interact in the account and recommend it) and the fashion industry (intention to follow fashion advice
posted).
• Finally, the perceived fit of the account with the consumer's personality strengthens the influence of opinion
leadership on the intention to follow published advice.
• These results have interesting implications for the fashion industry.
Hypotheses
First, we focus on the perceived characteristics of the account as the main antecedent factors of opinion
leadership
H1a. Perceived originality has a positive effect on perceived opinion leadership.
H1b. Perceived uniqueness has a positive effect on perceived opinion leadership.
H1c. Perceived quality has a positive effect on perceived opinion leadership.
H1d. Perceived quantity has a positive effect on perceived opinion leadership.

H2a . Opinion leadership has a positive effect on user intention to interact in the Instagram account.
H2b. Opinion leadership has a positive effect on user intention to recommend the Instagram account online.
H2c. Opinion leadership has a positive effect on user intention to follow the advice obtained in the Instagram
account.
Hypotheses (Contd.,)
H3a. The consumer's online interaction propensity strengthens the influence of opinion leadership on his/her
interaction intention.
H3b. The consumer's online interaction propensity strengthens the influence of opinion leadership on his/her
recommendation intention.
H3c. The perceived fit of the account with the consumer's personality strengthens the influence of opinion
leadership on his/her intention to follow the advice offered by the account.
Methodology
• The data to test these hypotheses was collected from a fashion focused Instagram account in which a
potential influencer posts pictures related to new trends in the fashion industry that can be imitated by the
account`s followers.
• The selection of this specific account was not random (Eisenhardt, 1989); the selection was based on some
important characteristics (it has a growing number of followers, is focused on the fashion industry, is
increasing in popularity in the media [magazines and newspapers have published several news items about
the account]) and its accessibility (the influencer agreed to collaborate with the research project,
distributing a questionnaire among the account followers).
• From the limited number of cases that might have been accessible to the authors, we selected this
Instagram account since it can be categorized as an influencer in the fashion industry. In addition, the
selection of a specific case is appropriate when analysing a contemporary phenomenon (Yin, 1994), it may
be used to test theory (Eisenhardt, 1989) and can be combined with quantitative evidence (Yin, 1981) and a
questionnaire (Eisenhardt, 1989), as in our case.
Methodology (Contd.,)
• One item was used to measure the Partial Least Square (PLS) was used as the estimation procedure
because it is especially useful in situations with limited theoretical information, or when the phenomenon
under research is relatively new (Roldán & Sánchez-Franco, 2012), as is the case with the antecedents and
consequences of opinion leadership in the Instagram context.
• As an additional indicator of convergent validity, average variance extracted (AVE)values are also above the
benchmark of 0. 5 (Fornell & Larcker, 1981) for all reflective constructs).
• Finally, to confirm the discriminant validity of the reflective constructs, we checked that the value of the
square root of the AVE is greater than the shared variance among constructs (correlations) (Fornell &
Larcker, 1981
Conclusion & Findings
• Despite the increasing number of opinion leaders who have emerged in the fashion industry due to the
development of SNS, this is – to our knowledge – one of the first studies analyzing the antecedents and
consequences of opinion leadership on Instagram.
• First, this work confirms that, instead of perceived quality or quantity, perceived originality and uniqueness of
the posts on an Instagram account are the key factors that lead a poster to be perceived as an opinion leader in
this SNS
• This research has several limitations that offer possibilities for further research. First, the respondents are
followers of just one opinion leader's official Instagram account.
• Finally, it might be useful to research whether the antecedents and the consequences of “micro-influencers”
are the same as for opinion leaders, due to their distinctive characteristics(normally less than 10,000 followers
[Norris, 2017], focused on a really specific topic of interest and a major rate of engagement