Rocking the Boat

Appendix A: Research Design and Methods

For a description of my general research design, including the logic behind my choices for primary research sites and a description of the cultures of these three organizations, see the preface.

Research Sample

My research samples differed at my three primary sites—Western Financial, Atlas Tech, and Shop.co—depending in part on the way I gained access into each organization. At Western, my primary contact was the Executive Vice President of Human Resources. Through her, I arranged to interview senior-level employees who had “identities of difference” as well as those who were self-described change agents and “progressives” in this conservative organization. These criteria were intentionally vague to keep ...