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company. However, narrative can reveal how people
experience change and which factors influence situations
and make particular events possible.
The research faced the dilemma of anonymity as there are
some particular details that could identify the participants
of this research (small group of people, very particular responsibilities
and tasks in the project, etc.). Nevertheless, all
names have been eliminated to establish an acceptable level
of privacy. In addition, emphasis was given to handling the
information in a discrete and responsible way.
The analysis of the data went through three phases; the
interview transcription, the analysis and the interpretation
phase. In particular, regarding the second phase, emphasis
was given on the identification of key words, essential features,
experiences as well as their interrelations while, in the
third phase, the aim was to link the case of each participant
with larger issues and the theory. The challenges in the analysis
and interpretation phases were to identify: the relevance
of negative or positive answers to the clarity of the questions
and the particular circumstances which defined the
participants’ experiences in the project. The research question
raised was to identify and validate the occurrence of
these particular eight phases, as well as to assess the extent
of variation, due to the specific circumstances and environment
of the company. This kind of interpretation requires
hermeneutic work, which aimed to introduce new aspects
to the original narrative that exceeded the mere description
(Bennetts, 2002).
Discussion of the Results
The research results provide evidence that the introduction
of the new e-services in the case study state-owned airline
did follow in general the change management phases proposed
by Kotter (1995). However, there are some features
which can be identified in the process (as analyzed in the
following sections). Table 1 summarizes the same results and
provides the basis for the validation and observed deviations.
Establishing a sense of urgency
The participants of the study confirmed the existence of
the sense of urgency among the staff involved in this project.
In particular, the fast and accurate dissemination of all
necessary information led to the establishment of the necessary
level of understanding among staff, both in terms of
urgency and significance of the project. However, as a significant
number of the respondents highlighted, this sense
of urgency came from an external alert which, in fact, was
IATA’s resolution about the introduction of the e-ticket. The
interviewees also commented on the company’s hesitation