Identifying an empirical study that was conducted on the phenomenon you are researching
During the scientific research, there was a qualitative study approach, which is considered one of the most appropriate to the research phenomenon. More specifically, the study phenomenon is the position of SME retail business owners, operators, and management in developing their business environment and organizational culture throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the empirical study was mainly conducted on the current quality of small and medium enterprises’ management (Dahlberg et al., 2019). This type of empirical research allows to identify the actual position of companies and determine the general tendency and provide the possible outcomes for small and medium business echelons.
Identifying the theories or models in that empirical study that are relevant to the phenomenon for your qualitative study
The main and the most appropriate model used in the empirical study was Edgar Schein’s model of organizational culture. More specifically, it was chosen due to the significant relevancy for the phenomenon study and the lack of concrete information concerning organizational culture in small and medium enterprises (Schein, 2019). However, the model describes general principles that are most appropriate to companies with large capitalization due to the significant amount of funds needed to implement this model of functioning in one of SMEs. Consequently, it was not possible to derive real-life cases from the model analysis since the budget funding was unrealistic relatively to the SMEs.
Discussing how the theory or model in that empirical study is relevant to the phenomenon addressed in your qualitative study
The level of appropriateness of the model is sufficiently high to implement it in the empirical phenomenon study. Moreover, the importance of organizational theory in general and organizational culture, in particular, are usually undervalued due to the entrepreneurs’ perceptive biases. However, the empirical study develops and confirms the appropriateness of implementing the organizational culture in any business even though it may have less than five employees. By applying Schein’s methods into practice, the representative of SME business will experience a significant increase in the company’s value in the long-term perspective. This is because every successful company that can survive the “solvency” testimonial in most cases already implemented the specific and individualized organizational culture. As a result, the organizational culture model profoundly explains the importance of preparing the business for different situations requiring fast-taken but profoundly understood decisions.
Discussing how your originally chosen theory or model is relevant, relates to, or hints at the chosen empirical study and your qualitative study
While the originally chosen theory was not applicable since it was written before the world Covid-19 pandemic, the main essence of organizational study was relevant enough to make a projection through the current business situation. One of the main contributions to the development of the subject was the fundamental understanding of the significance of having an organizational culture not only in the normal business cycle but also during the strong economic stagnation. In other words, to survive Covid-19 restrictions, the SME businesses should have developed their company’s culture based on its values and priorities. The model analysis resulted in the notion that the organizational culture is a goodwill asset, which is not considered in its balance sheet since it is impossible to consider the specific level of organizational culture development. However, during the crisis, it plays a pivotal role in keeping the company functioning without significant loss of efficacy. In addition, the covid-19 measures allowed to test the theory on different SME management cases which recall crisis situations. Finally, the analyzed phenomenon also enabled the disclosure of the crisis management part of the model so that the dissertation enriched the experience of developing both the “resource” and its application.
References
Dahlberg, H., & Dahlberg, K. (2019). The question of meaning—a momentous issue for qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being, 14(1), 1598723.
Darling, J. (2017). A conversation with Edgar Schein: aligning strategy, culture, and leadership. People & Strategy, 40(2). Web.
Schein, E. H. (2019). A New Era for Culture, Change, and Leadership. MIT Sloan Management Review, 60(4), 52–58.