DEVELOPING TYPOLOGIES USING QUALITATIVE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS (QCA): AN ILLUSTRATION

摘要

This paper introduces qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) in the marketing field as a potential approach to investigating and extending current knowledge on configuration phenomena. Beyond explaining the technique, we present a roadmap for its use, and provide an empirical application showing how QCA of fers a means to develop a typology of successful externalization outsourcing of product development tasks. According to configuration theory, various factors lead to different results, depending on their arrangement, and specific combinations rather than single factors are responsible for the outcomes. Configuration research therefore requires a holistic evaluation of each case, with a focus on how the variables fit together.