3.2.2. Research philosophy
Concerning the philosophy used for this research the choice has
not been made between the `traditional' positivism and phenomenology. In fact,
those two approaches did not meet the requirements of this study. Positivism,
although it would have been helpful to test Polonsky's model (1995), needs
large samples, which like the deductive approach, is not possible with football
clubs because they are not numerous enough. Phenomenology implies that the
researcher is involved and generates theories. Although an adaptation of
Polonsky (1995) and Archer's (1995) models was made by the author, this
approach is not adapted to this study requirement. Another approach is called
`realism' and was used for this study (Easterby-Smith and al., 2001). Realism
is a way to conduct an analysis based on facts. This approach was more adapted
to this research which happened in a changing environment. To base this study
on economical reality of professional football clubs was the most reliable way
to conduct this research. To test the three models presented in the second part
of this research, evidences had to be found in the economic reality, that's why
a case study approach was used.
3.2.3. A case study approach
According to Yin (1994), the case study approach is useful to
investigate a modern phenomenon in its real context. This definition
corresponds to this research, which aim was to study how football clubs managed
stakeholders. To study few football clubs was the best option. The author did
not have time enough to study every single football club. As football clubs are
very different, to study only one case would not have been pertinent for the
research. As said in part 3.1., it was interesting to analyse the management of
important and less important football clubs, as well as English and French
ones. Thanks to the data gathered, it was possible to design a close-to-reality
stakeholders' mapping. Archer's model (1995) needed current data, as
stakeholders' position and influence evolutes in time. Polonsky's model (1995)
is less affected by time; nevertheless it has to be adapted depending on
football clubs' reality. All cases were studied similarly. The same methods
were used to analyse each type of club, which was the only way to highlight
differences between clubs' category (cf. research protocol part 3.5.1.). A
multi-method approach was used for this study, analysing statistics, financial,
legal and social data. The use different type of data was required to have an
overview of all stakeholders' management. Data from football clubs were
comparable because, whether in France or England, clubs are into the same
business type (e.g. accounts includes players transfer, high salary...).
Moreover, Europeanization of the football business is increasing (e.g. creation
of the interests group called G14).
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