Dissertation Methodology for Study on Amazon's Entry into Foreign Markets

This dissertation methodology focuses on the study of Amazon's entry into foreign markets. It includes research philosophy, research paradigm, post positivism, case study methodology, data collection, and thematic analysis of data.

Running head: DISSERTATION METHODOLOGY
Dissertation methodology
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

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Table of Contents
Research Methodology....................................................................................................................3
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Research Philosophy........................................................................................................................3
Research Paradigm..........................................................................................................................4
Post Positivism.................................................................................................................................5
Methodology (Case Study)..............................................................................................................6
Collection of Data............................................................................................................................7
Thematic Analysis of Data..............................................................................................................8
Table 1- Codes and Sub codes of the Themes...............................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12

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Research Methodology
Introduction
The research begins with the introductory part where readers are introduced with a brief
overview on the methodology chapter of the dissertation. The introductory part is followed by
the choice of the research philosophy where the researcher aims to establish the different types of
research philosophy and also chooses the most suitable research philosophy for this research.
The researcher uses the post positivism philosophy and provides a detailed analysis on its
justification and use in the research. The case study of Amazon on its entry into the foreign
markets and its impact is the next part of the research. The following part of the research has
properly analyzed and presented an effective description of the different elements of the study.
The process of collecting the information regarding the study and the thematic analysis of the
results forms the next two chapters where the researcher has mentioned all the sources from
where data is collected and the theme based determination on whether the objectives of the
research are met or not respectively. The researcher has provided an overall summary of the total
project in the concluding part of the methodology section which will provide a jest of the total
methods used in this following research.
Research Philosophy
The researcher has plans to use the strategies in order to gain knowledge about the basic
philosophy of the research. The philosophical position in terms of a research refers to the nature
of the world and how the knowledge gained from the world is obtained. The following activity
helps the researcher to select the methodologies of the research as well as identify the

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presentations and findings of the particular study. Ontology can be referred to as the basic beliefs
of a person about the world and the way he treats reality. On the other hand ontology is the basis
for developing the epistemology as because the following refers to the type of relationship that
exists between the researcher and the knowledge. Becoming ontological refers that the reality is
changing and focuses on the meanings of human interactions and reality contexts. On the other
hand a constructionist epistemology holds the view that meaning is not discovered but it is
formulated by the individuals or groups from their engagement with realities. The intention of
the following research is to find out the problems and issues faced by the different industries in
international expansion.
Research Paradigm
Research Paradigm can be defined as the set of beliefs that leads to the formulation of a
research and the interpretation of the results of the following research. The research paradigm are
also based on the epistemological and ontological assumptions.
Most of the researchers generally highlight three different paradigms for the conduction
of a research; they are positivism, interpretiveism and pragmatism. These three approaches are
different in nature as because each of them has a different meaning altogether. Positivism defines
reality as an independent variable and has an objective of its own; it is also specific and credible
in nature. Most of the researchers depend on positivism philosophy to complete their research.
However there are many who thinks otherwise and points out to some of the limitations of the
positivism philosophy. Criticisms of the following philosophy involve the highly controlled
environment in such an approach which restricts the results of the research. Such a feature of the
following approach limits the researcher from providing the correct information, thus affecting

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the quality of the research (Leonidou et al. 2017). There are also researchers who prefer to use
interpretiveism as a substitute measure to get away with the limitations of the former. The
following philosophy involves the use of the qualitative data to retain the complexity of the
social reality. Last but not the least in any ways the pragmatism approach combines both the
positivist and interpretive approaches according to the needs of the different questions that are
answered in the research. The pragmatist approach of the research can use both the qualitative as
well as the quantitative approach while observation and derivation of the subjective meanings of
the research. The pragmatic approach also brings the necessary confidence amongst the
researchers to make sure that there are multiple approaches to bring out the results of the
research.
The research has aimed to use the post positivism approach which is quite similar to the
likes of the pragmatism approach of the organization. The research will provide the approx and
the best possible result while estimating the entry of a business organization in foreign markets.
However the presence of multiple possibilities might hamper the scope and results of the
following research. This happens mainly because the researcher is not confident on whether the
variables of the research will act in a precise way as directed.
Post Positivism
Before discussing about the positivism research philosophy it is important to give a brief
introduction of the same. Positivism philosophy is one of the firsts among all the other kinds of
philosophy while the conduction of research. Positivism philosophy gives rise to the generalized
outcome of the laws that has been proved already. However the 20th century has given rise to a
new approach popularly called as post positivism research philosophy which can be best defined

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as the way by which scientists think of a certain thing is similar to the way of what people thinks
in their everyday lives. The post positivism theory has been used by the researcher in this
particular research to effectively use the different types of the data available to find out the
results. The way the researchers build the knowledge will be important to proceed with the
following research.
Methodology (Case Study)
According to, Neuendorf, (2016) the methodology part is designed by the user to read the
case study, analyze them and accordingly take the particular methods that are useful in the
conduction of the research. The following study on the entry of Amazon into an international
market has used the constructive epistemology and post positivist research paradigm to ensure
the formulation and implementation of a smooth methodology that will help to find the proper,
effective and exact reports on the same (Wang & Shaver, 2014). It is also useful to conduct the
analysis of the case study as because it allows the researcher to explore the given topic more
precisely and accurately. Reporting a case study is termed as one of the most difficult task by the
researcher and earlier records also point out the same. The main problems that the researchers
face are the complex nature of the research approaches. The data that is collected by the
researcher usually comes in a complex manner which is almost non-understandable by the
readers. Demangeot, Broderick. & Craig, (2015) have stated that it is the sole responsibility of
the researcher to convert the complex phenomenon into a much easier format that is easily
understandable by the readers. The goal of the particular research is to use a variety of different
information sources and use them as if each of them has been an important tool that has led to
the success of the business. The researcher must describe both the context within which the
phenomenon occurs and the phenomenon itself. The main feature of reporting a case study

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methodology is providing a detailed story on the case study (Amazon in this particular study) in
a chronological manner that helps the readers to identify the exact time of different events. The
researcher must make it a point to address all the propositions in a proper manner as because it
ensures the focus of the report to stay focused in its objective. There are often when the amateur
researchers fall back while conducting the research as they fail to focus on the work they were
doing. The return of the research to its main proposal and the issues that it addresses helps to
maintain the focus of the research (Leonidou et al. 2017).
Therefore the case study approach in a research methodology can be defined as the
scientific and systematic study or analysis of the case study. The providence of case study helps
to focus of the researcher to address the questions that starts with how and why, avoidance of the
manipulation of the secondary sources of data and to include the like of contextual conclusions
(Luoma et al. 2016). The case study chosen in this particular research has illustrated the tensed
situation of Amazon in failing to utilize the expansion in most of the countries in the world. The
company faces a number of different issues related to the internationalization of the business and
thus has to make sure that the planning and the strategies are well planned to ensure great
success in the market of the host country. The case study methodology will provide the readers
with a clear and transparent theoretical knowledge which will clear their ideas about the research
topic.
Collection of Data
A special hallmark for the case study research methodologies is the use of the multiple
sources of information. The following strategy also enables data creditability. The potential
sources of information include the likes of the participant-observation. Documentation, records

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from the government archives, other media sources, business journals, press publications and
many more as such (Neuendorf, 2016). The researchers can use the qualitative research
information to get a holistic understanding of the particular phenomenon that is being studied in
this research. The information will be collected from the Amazon Case study which clearly
describes the impacts of Amazon’s entry in Australia. The particular study provides an idea on
what kind of strategies Amazon intends to put into place to gain success in the market. Apart
from this the researcher also collects information on the repositioning statements from the
journals and articles of Wang & Shaver paper (Wang & Shaver, 2014). The determination of the
large number of information helps the researcher Therefore the researcher is able to collect
different information from the early sources, general journals, budgets and many other such
secondary sources as such.
Thematic Analysis of Data
Thematic Analysis is used widely in qualitative Research. Most of the researchers
disregard thematic analysis and considers it to be a grounded theory that cannot be used for the
present day researches. However there are some researchers who still argue that Thematic
Analysis should lay the foundation for qualitative analysis of the available information. Thematic
Analysis is believed to provide some unique skills that help to conduct a number of different
qualitative research methods.
The coding of the data began with the proper and organized analysis of the different sets
of data followed by an open code to help in the formulation of the next stage of data leveling.
The process of open coding refers to the breaking down of the data into different units. The
researcher has deduced five different codes which have been described below. It starts with the

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challenges that Amazon has created in the economic sector of Australia and four other different
codes with a number of different sub codes. The codes and sub codes has been described in the
table 1 below. The analysis of the codes will be done by the use of NVivo software which is a
tool for qualitative data analysis. The themes of the following research are as follows;
Theme1: Amazon Challenges the Economics of the established Models of Business
The entry of Amazon in the Australian market has challenged the established business
models in a lot many ways. Some of them include the impact on the customer mix, frequency of
shopping, pricing strategy of the organization, supply chain of the organization and many more
as such. The lead product is sometimes not profitable in the long run but the company will gain
ground once the attachment and follow up sales are followed. The company clearly stands
against this particular policy by increasing the attractiveness of their delivery. A negative pricing
policy will lead to the loss of the retail business in Australia.
Theme 2: Market place increases the competition
The mentioned e-commerce company of the case study involves third party sellers to
deliver their products to the consumers. The market place of a country is the third party seller
platform for Amazon and goes on increasing the number of sellers at an organized manner. The
market place of Australia will enable the mentioned organization to significantly expand the
assortment and the price impression. The market place of the island continent will create a
favorable competitive environment for the third party sellers. The large scale increase in the
market competition will reduce the excessive profits of the organization. Amazon thus helps the
small scale industries to prosper in the long run by helping them to channel their products in the
Amazon supply chain and make them profitable for the success of the business.

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Theme 3: Amazon forces business organizations to change their business models
The management of Amazon has the capability to reduce prices and increase the range of
the products. Being an online Company the following business can reduce the costs that are
generally incurred in the maintenance of the different stores. The entry of Amazon in Australia
will surely spell doom for the traditional retailers and they have to surely change their business
models to have a stronghold in the market (Gao, Yu & Cannella, 2017).
Theme 4: Spatial Competition and Repositioning
The position of a business organization in respect to the competitors is one of the most
important areas of the strategic research. The Australian consumers will choose to purchase a
particular product that they will prefer less if the price difference for the less preferred item is
much bigger. Spatial competition models intend to present the customers with a stable view
between positioning and the external environment (Kahle, & Gurel-Atay, 2014). Repositioning
of a brand is also followed by large and dominant industries to gain competitive edge in the
market. A market that has only one firm will follow the principle of monopoly and will restrict
the other foreign firms to enter into the market and be stable in nature.
Theme 5: Impact of Amazon’s entry in Australia
Amazon’s entry into the market of Australia has a host of different impacts ranging from
social, political as well a economical. According to, Kahle & Gurel-Atay (2014) the entry of the
mentioned firm in the island continent will lead to the fall of the sales for the traditional set of
retail organizations like Woolworth as the capability of Amazon to provide door to door services

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cannot be matched by the former. Economically the country will experience a surge as because
the change in the business model will help buyers to buy more products online.
CORE THEMES EXAMPLES OF CODES
Amazon Challenges the Economics of the of the
established Models of Business
Impact of the customer mix
Pricing Strategy of the organization
Supply chain of the organization
Increasing the attractiveness of the delivery
Market place increases the competition Use of Third Party sellers
Increasing the number of sellers gradually
Increasing the assortment and the price impression
Favorable competitive environment for the sellers
Amazon forces business organizations to change
their business models
Reduce price and increase range of products
Reduce maintenance costs
Spatial Competition and Repositioning Price difference of products
Spatial competition models
Impact of Amazon’s entry in Australia Host of different impacts including social, political
and economical
Door to door services
Table 1- Codes and Sub codes of the Themes
Source: As created by the Author
Summary

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The above research analysis and presentation of the findings determines the
establishment of contribution to internationalization. The findings of the research have been
organized in a proper manner and the studies of the research have helped to find out the main
issues faced by companies like Amazon while expanding their business internationally. The
findings of the research have recommended advancement in the current and future marketing
trends of the world. As mentioned earlier the main purpose of the research is to investigate the
issues that the companies faces while expanding their business overseas and also the reasons
behind such issues (Buffa & Martini, 2017). The methodology section has involved the results of
both the literature review and the introductory part of the research. The literature review has
provided the researcher the scope to create the best methodology as possible by the researcher
and also explain them in detail. The research has also tried to understand the ways of the future
marketing techniques of the different companies by arranging them accordingly by referring the
case of Amazon especially. The following research topic is one of the best topics amongst the
existing lot as because it aims to deal with the latest trend of business in the globalized world.

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