Film as Alternative Case Study Method

Case study is a common method in qualitative research. Organizing valuable and effective field research, making sense of data collected, validating these data, and making a good presentation of them are the key to an effective case study. In this seminar Yan Ting Yuen, with her well-received latest documentary film “Het Geheim van de HEMA”, offers a fresh alternative look on these issues.

While historically case studies are often presented through written accounts of a specific situation, more recently we see a growing use of video and film to convey the rich context of case studies. In ethnographic field research, there has been some experience with the use of photography and film (e.g. Ball and Smith, 2001; Pink, 2008), but business school academics in general have little experience with using and producing video and film.

Yan Ting Yuen followed HEMA CEO Ronald van Zetten for a year and examined how this typical Dutch brand was making its way into the international market. In this seminar, Yan Ting Yuen will share her experience as a filmmaker and address how she made contact with HEMA, how she turned the original idea into a nice film (scripting, field and desk research, shooting, and production), and how she overcame the difficulties during the making of the film. 

The film on HEMA is a Dutch language production and the seminar will be in English, with excerpts with English subtitles.

Yan Ting Yuen was born in Hong Kong and lived in the Netherlands since childhood. She studied communication at the University of Amsterdam and did research for various TV programs. Her first documentary, “Chin.Ind., life behind the serving hatch” (2001) was nominated for a Golden Calf Award (a renowned Dutch film prize) in the category “best documentary” in 2001.

References:
- Smith, GWH and Ball, M 2001/2007, 'Technologies of realism? Ethnographic uses of photography and film', in: Handbook of ethnography , Atkinson, P., Coffey, A., Delamont, S., Lofland, J., and Lofland, L. (Eds), Sage Publications, London, pp. 302-319.
- Pink, S., 2008, Walking with video, Visual Studies, 22:3, pp. 240-252
- The film “Het geheim van de HEMA” can be watched on: http://www.hollanddoc.nl/kijk-luister/documentaire/g/geheim-van-de-hema.html
- An Interview with CEO Ronald van Zetten by Pauw & Witteman can be found at http://omroep.vara.nl/media/193000

The seminar is organized as a small-scale interactive workshop, thus attendance is limited. If you would like to attend this seminar, please register before 14 February 2013 by sending an email to cdc@rsm.nl.