If x then why? Comparative analysis using critical incidents technique

Abstract

This article extends extant inductive theory building research methodology within the management field by fusing the methodology with core properties of the Critical Incidents Technique (CIT). The CIT is especially appropriate for analysis and discovery of the problem solving behavior of people through the study of narratives. Fundamentally, this article addresses how to collect, analyze, and present narrative knowledge from CIT-based workshops in a manner that enables researchers to treat outliers as distinctive vantage points in inductive theory building. The contribution of this article is a framework for utilization of data from CIT based workshops in qualitative comparative analysis.