Challenges and Best-practice Recommendations for Designing and Conducting Interviews with Elite Informants

Abstract

Elite informants (i.e., those in the upper echelon of organizations) are a key data source for building and testing theories in management research. We offer best-practice recommendations to overcome challenges in designing and conducting interviews with elite informants (EIs) based on a comprehensive and multidisciplinary literature review and information provided by subject matter experts (i.e., authors of recently published articles that included EI interviews). Given unique characteristics of EIs and differences compared to interviewing non-EIs, we provide recommendations on how to address challenges related to: (1) research design (e.g., what is the best order for the interviews?); (2) data collection (e.g., how can researchers access EIs? what is the best format for the interview? how can researchers obtain more honest responses?); and (3) reporting of results (i.e., what information should researchers report and to whom?). Finally, we offer suggestions for future EI research focusing on methodological issues.