Management of Art Galleries – Business Models - Universität St.Gallen

Introduction 13 / 225Germany serve as cases for this study. In a longitudinal study, their business processes areobserved and findings from the previous section are tested and verified. A description of thismethod is to be found in the corresponding section.Despite obvious contradictions, it is useful to combine both approaches and methods as theycomplement one another and increase scope, depth and consistency (Flick, 1998, p. 230).“Ideally, we should like to converge data from several different data classes, as well as convergewith multiple variants from within a single class” (Webb, Campbell, Schwartz, & Sechrest, 1966,p. 45). Denzin (1977) supports this claim and highlights the usefulness of method triangulation.It describes “the complex process of playing each method off against the other so as to maximizethe validity of field efforts” (Denzin, 1977, p. 310). Since the advantages of a triangulationappear to be particularly useful, this dissertation follows this approach. Qualitative andquantitative methods collocate on an equal footing.The following table puts the research objective, as well as the research question, structure andmethod, in context:Table 5: Overview of Research DesignStructureAnalysisPhases Research Objective Sub-ResearchQuestionIdentification/ Identify and describe What are the mostDescription the status quo relevant statistics todescribe the businessmodel of artgalleries?What are thepredominant businessmodels for artgalleries?MethodologyQuantitativestudy(descriptivestatistics,regressionanalysis,literature review)ImplicationExplanationEvaluationExplain and discussexisting statistics toidentify successfactors in art gallerybusiness modelsEvaluate a possiblenew business modelfor art galleriesWhat are the existingand potential successfactors?What could a newbusiness model forart galleries looklike?Qualitative study(results from theAnalysis, threecase studies,expert talks)