Data collection

Careful planning of data collection is essential for a case study investigation (Farquhar 2012, 79) and according to Yin (2003, 86) case studies use multiple sources of evidence as data which are documentation, archival records, interviews, direct observations, participant-observation, and physical artifacts. Eriksson and Kovalainen (2016, 138) also state that in case study research empirical data can be collected from various sources, and personal in-depth interviews are typically used in business research as the primary data and other types as complementary data. Using data from different sources enables data triangulation which means cross-checking the data which is expected to provide a more objective multi-dimensional analysis of the case. Generally, several sources of empirical data make case studies to be considered more accurate and convincing. Farquhar (2012, 80-81) discusses that various sources of data need to be brought together at some point and two or more sources can to some extent validate each other if they provide convergent perspectives.

Therefore, data triangulation is a way of generating credibility to the findings of the case study research.

This research uses two sources of evidence: interviews and documentation (web pages). Personal in- depth interviews are used as primary data of the research. Farquhar (2012, 68) discusses that primary data is used in attempt to generate new insights into the research questions with fresh data.

According to Taylor et al. (2015, 102) in-depth interviewing refers to face-to-face encounters between the researcher and the interviewee which aims at understanding the interviewee’s perspective on their lives, experiences, or situations expressed in their own words. Secondary data intended for data triangulation was collected from the companies’ websites which included information such as product or service descriptions, company history and current market situation. A total of five interviews were conducted with representatives from five different companies. The companies were chosen from suggestions given by staff from Business Center North Savo who were asked to provide proposals of companies producing high technology products or services located in North Savo region. The demarcation regarding desired companies is justified by the fact that the thesis was suggested by Business Center North Savo which is a service network providing innovation commercialization services in the region (Business Center North Savo 2021). Moreover, the chosen companies would provide a suitable dispersion to the research because some of the case companies had more history and experience than others and their products are relatively differing. Therefore, the cases would suit the investigation well. The interviewees from the companies were selected by considering who would have knowledge regarding commercialization process in the company and could therefore contribute value to the research.

In extensive case study the number of cases is influenced by the research question and study aims and there is no single rule concerning the minimum number of cases. Each additional case can however increase the generalizability of the research (Eriksson & Kovalainen 2016, 138). Thus, a total of seven companies were inquired for the research with a goal of getting 4-5 companies to consent to the interview.

Initial contacts and enquiries with the companies were made in the end 2020 via email or phone. The interview dates were agreed in the beginning of June 2021. Prior to the interviews preparatory and

complementary data was collected from the companies’ website while preparing the interview questions. According to Farquhar (2012, 73) interviews in qualitative data collection are usually semi- structured, which means that they proceed according to an interview guide but are also flexible and adaptative when needed. Thus, an interview guide was conducted to facilitate the planning of the interviews. Taylor et al. (2015, 120) describes the interview guide as a list of general ideas that need to be covered with each interviewee and hence the guide serves as reminder to ask about certain matters. The questions were categorized in the interview guide according to themes of the research questions which were “commercialization process”, “problems” and “solutions from internal and external resources”. The interview questions were sent to the interviewees 1-4 days prior to the agreed interview dates. The sent questions included the three themes from the interview guide to clarify the interview structure for the interviewees.

The interviews were conducted between 15^th of June and 26th of July 2021. The sessions comprised 28 questions (see Appendix 1). The interviews were conducted in Finnish in order to avoid receiving defective answers due to possible language challenges because all the interviewees and the interviewer had Finnish as their native language. The interviewing order was picked randomly according to the availability of the interviewees. The interviews were recorded and transcribed during the following days. The transcriptions were also done in Finnish and the quotations and findings were translated to English. Two out of five interviews were conducted remotely via Microsoft Teams, two were face-to-face meetings and one was via phone.

Furthermore, the interview included three background questions about the internationalization of the company, the high technology product and the company’s connection to the University of Eastern Finland, Savonia University of Applied Sciences and Business Center North Savo. This was done to gain perspective to the background section in Chapter 4.1. and 4.2.

In the end of the interviews the interviewees were asked whether they would wish their company to stay anonymous and to be referred as e.g., Company A or Company B. None of the interviewees preferred staying anonymous and therefore the company names are displayed in the research. After

writing the research the section was sent back to the interviewees for approval and to avoid possible misinterpretations. Details regarding the interviews are in table 1.

Table 1. Interview details.

Company

Interviewee's position in

the company Interview date Interview type

Interview duration 3D Talo Chief Operating Officer 15th June 2021 face-to-face 1 hour 18 min.

Kiho Director of Development 21st June 2021 face-to-face 1 hour 10 min.

Heart2Save Chief Executive Officer 26th July 2021 via phone 1 hour 5 min.

WellO2 Scientific Counselor 15th June 2021 via MS Teams 1 hour 15 min.

NewIcon Chief Commercial Officer 23rd June 2021 via MS Teams 1 hour 40 min.