**4. Method**

Given our research questions' nature, we adopted an explorative-qualitative empirical approach (involving in-depth and focus group interviews) for this study. Past studies have used qualitative methods to capture dynamic capability in organizations [16, 17]. The interview-based techniques typically focus on problems that are not immediately gullible, requiring unique exploration and analysis methods instead of descriptive and interpretive research using statistics [18, 19] and help understand processes not well explored. To build the correspondence between theory and data, we looked for replication logic to test for emerging theoretical insights [20].

Focus group discussions and face-to-face interviews were conducted to collect data for analysis. The focus group element approach helps evolve a collaborative inquiry to co-produce knowledge about a complex problem [16].

In the context of limited scholarship and understanding the plausible challenges and opportunities of internal gig working, we conducted initial focus group meetings with individual contributors and project managers from a leading IT services organization based in Bangalore to develop appropriate questions. This was followed up with in-depth interviews of 27 participants. One of the authors works in the organization, and the authors' contacts were leveraged for the purposive sampling of the target participants. The main aim was to ensure that interviewees represented individual contributors, managers, and business leaders, had significant active work experience and tenure within the organization to understand the organization's nuances, and a gender balance congruent with the industry representation. The interviews helped us understand the acceptance and challenges of setting up an internal gig platform and process. We interviewed these individuals as these professionals are the key informants [21], who can provide useful insights and minimize response errors. We established the informants' credibility by capturing the overall evaluations of responsibilities and knowledge of the focal organization's practices.

Among the 27 participants of the study, 9 were females, and 18 were males, the demographics of the population had given in **Table 1**. All the participants are from an engineering background with experience ranging from 4 years to 30 years. Among the participants, 13 had a total experience of more than 20 years; 9 had experience from 10 to 20 years, and 6 had 4 to 10 years of experience. Participants were selected across different functions, levels, and roles. The sample includes engineers, consultants, managers, heads, Assistant Vice President (AVP), and Vice Presidents (VP) of the various delivery functions.



*The Emerging New Order: Exploring New Ways to Build an Internal Gig Employment System… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96731*


**Table 1.** *Profile of the respondents.*

*The Emerging New Order: Exploring New Ways to Build an Internal Gig Employment System… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96731*

Since much of this research is an exploratory analysis, the relevant research questions focused on the challenges, both internal and external in IT Service organizations and the managers' and leaders' perceptions of what was needed to accommodate this new working way. We specifically wanted to discover individual programmers' challenges and motivations in embracing this new form of working. We also wanted to understand the managerial and leadership issues, concerns, and possible solutions in building an enabling environment. A semi-structured interview was prepared based on previous external gig work studies; all the questions were open-ended. An in-depth interview protocol was used to explore the personal insights, viewpoints, and opinions that provided the flexibility and freedom to change the directions and explore additional paths. After selecting the participants, the purpose of the interview was clarified, consent was acquired from them, and confidentiality was assured. The time and place for the interview were decided as per interviewee's convenience and comfort. All interviews were face-toface interviews, and a rapport was build at the starting to ease the process. All the interviews were voice recorded, and interviewers made personal notes. Depending on the interviewee's answers, some interview questions were skipped, and the questions' order was changed across research participants. While the interviewees were allowed the lead the conversation, many probing questions were asked to make an in-depth exploration of the topics. The average interview time was thirty to forty-five minutes. The interview transcription was done by one of the authors and comprised of 121367 words in total.

The researchers worked independently to develop their own clusters, representative statements and to complete the coding. While analyzing the data, we sought the help of our judgment, literature, and expert advice to explicate theoretical dimensions. The coding list was then exchanged among the researchers, the rationale for coding was explained and debated, and the next iteration of cluster/ coding was developed. We also collected and examined expert reviews for all the categories to ensure that: 1) researcher biases are minimized in our analysis, and 2) the emergence of theoretical dimensions from the data. An abridged version of the findings is provided in the following section. Based on the constant comparison of data and theory throughout the data collection and analysis process [22], a framework emerged indicating how organizations foster ethical competence among their employees.
