Building theories from case study research: the progressive case study

Meredith (1998) argues for more case and field research studies in the field of operations management. Based on a literature review, we discuss several existing approaches to case studies and their characteristics. These approaches include; the Grounded Theory approach which proposes no prior literature review in the substantive area under study (Glaser, 1992: 31) versus Eisenhardt (1989) and Yin (1994) who propose a more directed study with a priori constructs. We then propose an alternative approach which we call the progressive case study. This approach combines strengths of both approaches such as the informative aspect of Grounded Theory and a more plan able approach such as Yin and Eisenhardt propose. We also describe that case studies are not simply a set of interviews and provide examples on the amount of data that might be collected in a detailed case study. Furthermore, we provide direction for analyzing qualitative data in cases.