A fake example of qualitative data analysis on interview transcripts using chatgt (via poe.com): a note (version 2) for MBA students
The following is a fake example of semi-structured interview of three of my ex-colleagues with our previous employer that underwent a corporate merger (Apple Ltd and Pineapple Ltd) four years ago that ended in failure.
Interview with my colleague, who was the finance manager of Apple Ltd:
My question 1: "What were the external environmental context as well as the internal management issues that led to the decision of Apple Ltd's decision to merge with Pineapple Ltd?'
The reply from Mr Lee, the ex-Finance Manager of Apple Ltd: "At that time, the government's policy on merger is loose; at the same time Apple Ltd was facing tough competition from Banana Ltd, resulting in poor financial performance of Apple Ltd. At the same time, due to poor business performance, Apple Ltd had high debt burden as well as liquidity difficulty. As such, there was also pressure from our shareholders to take a more determined action to turnaround Apple Ltd in the form of merger with Pineapple Ltd. Pineapple Ltd also expressed interest to merge with us at that time."
My question 2: "What had been done by the Apple Ltd's management team that implemented the corporate merger and what were, if any, major external and internal happenings, that over time, led to the merger failure?"
The reply from Mr Lee, the ex-Finance Manager of Apple Ltd: "There was insufficient briefing to the employees of Apple Ltd, such that many of the employees were worried about their job security. Besides, the task of merging the operational procedures and the information systems with Pineapple Ltd turned out to be very complicated. Besides, there were corporate culture clash between Apple Ltd and Pineapple Ltd as well as incompatibility of leadership style between the two companies at the middle and supervisory levels. Finally, the merged management accounting system of the merged company was not able to produce reliable and relevant management accounting report. These merger tasks were not handled well, leading to the merger failure subsequently."
My question 3: "What were the negative consequence of this corporate merger exercise failure?"
The reply from Mr Lee, the ex-Finance Manager of Apple Ltd: "Some examples of the consequence were (1) serious cost overruns in the business operation, (2) high quality failure costs in the production operation, (3) delay in salary payment to employees, and (4) confusing budgeting planning and control. All these negative consequences led to poor business performance and deteriorating staff morale, for the merged company."
Interview with my colleague, who was the marketing manager of Apple Ltd:
My question 1: "What were the external environmental context as well as the internal management issues that led to the decision of Apple Ltd's decision to merge with Pineapple Ltd?"
The reply from Mrs Wong, the ex-marketing manager of Apple Ltd: "At that time, Apple Ltd was losing market share of our products in the marketplace due to intense competition in the marketplace. Our products, in particular, were getting less appealing to the young generation in the marketplace. We had quite poor product innovation performance. Our producing pricing was not competitive, as it was difficult to reduce product selling price due to the costly business model of Apple Ltd at that time. We thought that, by merging with Pineapple Ltd, we would gain synergy benefits in our merged distribution channel and advertising effectiveness."
My question 2: "What had been done by the Apple Ltd's management team that implemented the corporate merger and what were, if any, major external and internal happenings, that over time, led to the merger failure?"
The reply from Mrs Wong, the ex-marketing manager of Apple Ltd: "In the merger process, we did not consulted our sales team sufficiently. Many of our sales staff left our merged company. Those sales staff who stayed with us had no ideas about our marketing and sales strategy for the merged company. The confusing corporate climate was not helped by the intense office politics between the management team of Apple Ltd and Pineapple Ltd. The task to merge the product development team of Apple Ltd and that of the Pineapple Ltd turned out to be conflictual and disorganized. As a result, the merger exercise led to negative merger consequence."
My question 3: "What were the negative consequence of this corporate merger exercise failure?"
The reply from Mrs Wong, the ex-marketing manager of Apple Ltd: "The main negative merger consequences were: (1) deteriorating sales performance of the merged company, (2) weakened sales team competence of the merged company, (3) weakened product innovation competence of the merged company, and, finally, ineffective product branding strategy of the merged company.
Interview with my colleague, who was the human resource manager of Apple Ltd:
My question 1: "What were the external environmental context as well as the internal management issues that led to the decision of Apple Ltd's decision to merge with Pineapple Ltd?"
The reply from Mr Luk, the ex-human resource manager of Apple Ltd: "At that time, Apple Ltd was losing market share of our products. To improve the competitiveness of Apple Ltd, we needed to recruit additional staff for the corporate functions of new product development and quality management, among others. The intensity of talent war in the labour market is quite high. The top management thought that having a merger with Pineapple Ltd could help Apple Ltd to achieve the corporate competence in new product development and quality management. A merger was also an opportunity to rationalize the business model of the company, e.g. via the reduction of the company headcount, and to create competitive advantage with a more cost-effective business model."
My question 2: "What had been done by the Apple Ltd's management team that implemented the corporate merger and what were, if any, major external and internal happenings, that over time, led to the merger failure?"
The reply from Mr Luk, the ex-human resource manager of Apple Ltd: "In the merger process, we had carried out a major downsizing of the merged company, as well as some redeployment of staff to different departments. These corporate restructuring process turned out to create much job stress and operational confusion to employees. It was quite late that we launched some staff retraining programme in a rush manner. The human resource department also encountered much difficulty to rationalize the salary structure for the merged company. The whole merger process, regarding the human resource management domain, led to a stressful, conflictual and confusing working environment".
My question 3: "What were the negative consequence of this corporate merger exercise failure?"
The reply from Mr Luk, the ex-human resource manager of Apple Ltd: "The main negative merger consequences, regarding the human resource domain, were: (1) low staff motivation due to disorganized staff reward and compensation system, (2) unclear job and organizational structure, causing low staff morale and an ineffective business model for the merged company, and (3) further deterioration of the new product development and quality management competence of the merged company. Lastly, (4) it was harmful to the merged company's employer branding."
My request to chatgpt: "Could you produce a coding scheme via the inductive research approach with 13 codes, based on the interview transcripts provided? Also produce a higher-level category scheme for me. Tks."
The reply from chatpgpt: "Based on the interview transcripts provided, I have created a coding scheme with 12 codes using an inductive research approach. Each code is accompanied by supporting quotations from the interviews, The scheme also include the higher-level categories scheme.
Higher-Level Categories and Coding Scheme
1. External Influences
Government Policy Influence
Quotation (Mr. Lee): "At that time, the government's policy on merger is loose..."
Market Competition
Quotation (Mrs. Wong): "At that time, Apple Ltd was losing market share... due to intense competition in the marketplace."
Shareholder Expectations
Quotation (Mr. Lee): "...there was also pressure from our shareholders to take a more determined action..."
2. Internal Management Challenges
Employee Job Security Concerns
Quotation (Mr. Lee): "There was insufficient briefing to the employees... many of the employees were worried about their job security."
Operational Complexity
Quotation (Mr. Lee): "The task of merging the operational procedures and the information systems... turned out to be very complicated."
Cultural Clash
Quotation (Mr. Lee): "There were corporate culture clash... as well as incompatibility of leadership style."
Lack of Communication
Quotation (Mrs. Wong): "In the merger process, we did not consult our sales team sufficiently."
3. Financial and Performance Consequences
Cost Overruns
Quotation (Mr. Lee): "Some examples of the consequence were serious cost overruns in the business operation..."
Sales Performance Decline
Quotation (Mrs. Wong): "The main negative merger consequences were: deteriorating sales performance of the merged company..."
Management Accounting Failures
Quotation (Mr. Lee): "The merged management accounting system... was not able to produce reliable and relevant management accounting report."
4. Human Resource Issues
Staff Morale Issues
Quotation (Mr. Lee): "...poor business performance and deteriorating staff morale, for the merged company."
Job Stress and Confusion
Quotation (Mr. Luk): "These corporate restructuring processes turned out to create much job stress and operational confusion to employees."
Weakened Competence
Quotation (Mr. Luk): "The main negative merger consequences... were: low staff motivation due to disorganized staff reward and compensation system..."
Summary
This coding scheme categorizes the key themes and issues discussed in the interviews regarding the failed merger between Apple Ltd and Pineapple Ltd. Each category encapsulates significant challenges faced by the organizations, providing a structured overview of the insights gathered from the interviews.
My next question: "Very clear; could you link up the four categories to make up a conceptual framework in a diagram form? Preferably, the diagram should not be too linear in structure. Tks."
The reply from chatgpt: "Conceptual Framework Diagram
Description of the Framework
External Influences: Now positioned at the top, indicating that factors such as government policies and market competition affect the organization.
Internal Management Challenges: Reflects how the organization must navigate issues arising from external pressures.
Financial and Performance Consequences: Demonstrates the outcome of both external influences and internal management challenges.
Human Resource Issues: Indicates that HR challenges also arise from the external environment and internal dynamics.
This arrangement illustrates the flow of influence from external factors to internal organizational issues."
** note: This example is on the academic-oriented type of dissertation project.
Reference: a collection of blog notes on using chatgpt for research purpose.
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