Consultancy and Research at German Real Estate

Chapter 3 discussed the underlying philosophical basis of this research. Action research (AR) was justified as the most appropriate research strategy. The foundations of AR as well as its approaches, goals, cycles (core and research cycles), rigour, relevance and ethics have been discussed more generally based upon the literature. This chapter first introduces the organisation, ‘German Real Estate’, where this research took place (Section 4.1). This is followed by a justification of the overall design and its reasoning (4.2). Sections 4.3–4.5 introduce the core AR cycles (4.3 to 4.5). Every investigation phase and the cycles are discussed in order to demonstrate how the results fit the following cycle (Figure 4.1). As the activities of the core AR cycles concentrate on the practical work of consultancy, this chapter offers succinct but essential information about the activities and in this way takes the reader on the journey of two years of AR project work. The core AR cycles form the basis on which the research cycles build up and offer the framework for the data-collection methods used to explore middle management’s influence and role(s) related to organisational culture change. Data collection concerning the research aims and objectives belong to the research cycles, which are discussed in depth in Chapter 5. These clearly separate both the core action research cycles (consultancy project) and research cycles.