Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): A set-analytic approach to studying organizational configurations Summer School


Summer School

Aims

After the course, you should be 

  1. Familiar with the history of QCA and its introduction and diffusion in management studies
  2. Understand the logic of set-analytic methods
  3. Able to distinguish different approaches to case selection and how they lead to QCA
  4. Develop a configurational research design for your own research field
  5. Able to explain the difference between small-N and large-N approaches to QCA
  6. Familiar with current advanced topics in QCA

Information

The course is structured in six sessions. In Session 1, you will learn about the history of QCA and its introduction and diffusion in management research. We will discuss the conceptual background of QCA and become familiar with QCA as an analytical approach. A hands-on tutorial during the Session will help illustrate the core methodological principles of QCA. In Session 2, we will situate QCA in the broader landscape of qualitative research methods, focusing on logics of case selection and research designs for inductive and deductive research. In Session 2 you will also have the opportunity to reflect upon your own research and current and alternative research designs to address your research questions. In Session 3, you will become familiar with the traditional, small-N QCA research approach, focusing on motivating a configurational study (conceptual background), central aspects in implementing a QCA analysis (calibration, model coefficients, etc.), and the importance of post-QCA case analysis. For so doing, we will draw on small-N QCA studies published in top management journals. In Session 4, we will focus on large-N QCA, a more recent and less formalized research approach in QCA. Again, drawing on QCA studies published in top management journals, we will contrast state-of-the art applications of large-N QCA vis-à-vis small-N studies. In Session 5, we will examine configurational research across the management literature (e.g., strategy, org theory, innovation, OB, HRM, entrepreneurship, etc.) focusing primarily on your research fields. Additionally, based on the material covered in Sessions 2-4, you will outline, and receive feedback, on a possible configurational research designs for your own research. In Session 6, we will cover recent and advanced topics in QCA, including for example longitudinal QCA, multi-level QCA, QCA in mixed-methods studies.

Assessment

Assessment is on a Pass/Fail basis. To pass the course, participants must meet the following requirements:

  1. Attend all sessions
  2. Actively participate in all session
  3. Prepare essential readings
  4. Complete at least one in-class assignments or present an outline of a research proposal

Materials

The course includes essential and recommended literature for each session. 

  • Ragin, C. (2008). Redesigning social inquiry. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Introduction)
  • Meuer, J., & Fiss, P. (2020). Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) in Business and Management Research. In R. Aldag (Ed.), Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of Business and Management. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Gerring, J. (2004). "What is a case study and what is it good for?" American political science review 98(2): 341-354.
  • Gehman, J., V. L. Glaser, K. M. Eisenhardt, D. Gioia, A. Langley and K. G. Corley (2018). "Finding theory–method fit: A comparison of three qualitative approaches to theory building." Journal of Management Inquiry 27(3): 284-300.
  • Rubinson, C., L. M. Gerrits, R. Rutten and T. Greckhamer (2019). "Avoiding Common Errors in QCA: A ShortGuide for New Practitioners." COMPASSS - Working Paper (http://compasss.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Common_Errors_in_QCA.pdf).
  • Greckhamer, T., S. Furnari, P. C. Fiss and R. V. Aguilera (2018). "Studying configurations with qualitative comparative analysis: Best practices in strategy and organization research." Strategic Organization 16(4): 482-495.
  • Greckhamer, T., V. Misangyi and P. Fiss (2013). The two QCAs: From a small to a large-N set theoretic approach. Configurational Theory and Methods in Organizational Research. P. Fiss, B. Cambré and A. Marx. Bingley, UK, Emerald Publishing.
  • Vergne, J.-P. and C. Depeyre (2016). "How do firms adapt? A fuzzy-set analysis of the role of cognition and capabilities in US defence firms’ responses to 9/11." Academy of Management Journal 59(5): 1653-1680.
  • Halme, M., J. Rintamäki, J. S. Knudsen, L. Lankoski and M. Kuisma (2018). "When Is There a Sustainability Case for CSR? Pathways to Environmental and Social Performance Improvements." Business & Society.
  • Fiss, P. (2011). "Building better causal theories: A fuzzy set approach to typologies in organizational research." Academy of Management Journal 54(2): 393-420.
  • Misangyi, V. and A. Acharya (2014). "Substitutes or Complements? A Configurational Examination of Corporate Governance Mechanisms." Academy of Management Journal 57(6): 1681-1705.
  • Delbridge, R., & Fiss, P. (2013). Editors Comments: Styles of Theorizing and the Social Organization of Knowledge. Academy of Management Review, 38(1), 325-331.
  • Misangyi, V., Greckhamer, T., Furnari, S., Fiss, P. C., Crilly, D., & Aguilera, R. (2017). Embracing Causal Complexity The Emergence of a Neo-Configurational Perspective. Journal of management, 43(1), 255-282.
  • Furnari, S., D. Crilly, V. F. Misangyi, T. Greckhamer, P. C. Fiss and R. Aguilera (2020). "Capturing Causal Complexity: Heuristics for Configurational Theorizing." Academy of Management Review(ja).
  • Meuer, J., C. Rupietta and U. Backes-Gellner (2015). "Layers of co-existing innovation systems." Research Policy 44(4): 888-910.
  • Aversa, P., S. Furnari and S. Haefliger (2015). "Business model configurations and performance: A qualitative comparative analysis in Formula One racing, 2005–2013." Industrial and Corporate Change 24(3): 655-676.
  • Fischer, M. and M. Maggetti (2017). "Qualitative Comparative Analysis and the study of policy processes." Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis 19(4): 345-361.

Additional info

Schedule

  • 8-11 July: 9:00-17:00 TBD

For the timetable of this course, please click here. The timetable is in the local time of Rotterdam, which is CEST (UTC+02:00).

This course is held fully online.

Registration

Please fill in the online registration form to register for the course. 

Please note that the number of places for this course is limited. In case the number of registrations exceeds the number of available seats, priority is given to ERIM PhD candidates.

This course is free of charge for ERIM Full-Time and Part-Time PhD candidates and ERIM members. For external participants, the course fee is 250 euro per ECTS credit.

Please contact us at summerschool@erim.eur.nl if you have questions.