Contributors to the construction of management-concerns diagram in the agile literature review approach

Contributors to the construction of management-concerns diagram in the agile literature review approach

To understand why it is not adequate for a researcher to just interview a senior manager of a client organization for the construction of management-concerns diagram (in the agile literature review approach), one should recognize different types of interview candidates who hold useful viewpoints and knowledge on the problem-situation under study. They are:

Type 1: powerful decision-maker(s): these people hold strong formal authority in the organizational context under study.

Type 2: stakeholder(s): they hold less formal authority (in contrast to type 1), while having vested interests in the problem-situation under study.

Type 3: witnesses: they have insignificant vested interest in the problem-situation under study; but as eyewitnesses in the problem site, they hold some relevant (e.g. useful) viewpoints and observations of the situation that could inform the research investigation by the researcher.

Finally, the management-concerns diagram is to be co-created by the interview candidates and the researcher; thus, the researcher has to employ his/her critical thinking and intellectual knowledge to produce the management-concerns diagram in a way that also meets his/her academic interest (e.g. in specific management subjects or topics for MBA students).

In short: total contributors to the construction of management-concerns diagram (A) = types of interview candidates (B) + the researcher (C)

That means, the researcher (e.g. an MBA student doing dissertation project) should not just interview one interviewee and captures only the interviewee viewpoint to produce the management-concerns diagram.