Following the presentation of the data, hierarchical regression analysis is employed to analyse and test the Conceptual Model of Factors Affecting HCN Integration. The goal of this analysis is to examine the relationships between the factors that are postulated to influence or predict the integration of HCN managers in the management process at Japanese overseas subsidiaries in terms of their participation in decision-making.
6.1 RESEARCH METHODS
This section describes the research instruments, data collection, demographics, and the scales developed for measuring the variables in the Conceptual Model of Factors Affecting HCN Integration.
6.1.1 Research Instruments
In the pilot study, two questionnaires were developed, one in English to be completed by HCN managers employed at Japanese subsidiaries in Malaysia and Australia as well as one in Japanese to be completed by the PCNs at the same companies. I developed the questionnaires with the co-operation of Kazuo Doi, a colleague of mine at Kyushu Sangyo University in Fukuoka, Japan. The English and Japanese versions of the questionnaires fundamentally ask the same set of questions. However, there are certain questions that logically apply to only HCN or PCN managers and these types of questions were also included.
The pilot study served to validate the research instruments and offered insights into how the study could be improved. A number of questions employed in the pilot study that did not provide particularly useful insights were omitted from the questionnaire used in 1996. While considering the results of the first study, additional questions were formulated to seek more precise data. For example, additional items to be used in the scale for HCN participation in decision-making were added to the 1 ...