Data sources
Interview data is one of the best ways to gain access to individual perceptions and strategies.
Interviews are particularly useful if conducted close to the time of the transfer while
interviewees still recall the details of the process. We first identified key individuals involved
in the two transfers. They included internal members of the firms, e.g., the CEO, financial
analysts, and board members. They also included external constituents such as sustainable
development managers of evaluated companies, socially responsible fund managers, and
managers of partnering organizations. The interviews inquired about their perceptions of the
transfer and their strategies for overcoming obstacles. In total, we conducted 24 semi-
structured, retrospective interviews in the ARESE case and 11 semi-structured, in-situ
interviews in the FIR case.
Retrospective interviews are useful because they capture the full process of a transfer
from beginning to end. However, people easily forget what happened a few years back and
give vague or incomplete accounts of their strategies (Barley, 1986). In addition, interviewees
may distort the picture in light of the known outcomes. They may inflate their intentionality
more or less deliberately to present themselves in a positive light. Real-time interviews
control for these two weaknesses. Details are more vivid when people are still engaged in the
transfer process. They are also less inclined to inflate intentionality when the outcome of their
efforts is not yet known. However, real-time interviews may omit politically sensitive details
that can better be revealed in retrospect. Hence, real-time interviews compensate for potential
weaknesses in retrospective interviews, and vice-versa.
In our study, the real-time interviews were conducted at a politically precarious time for
FIR. To minimize the likelihood that interviewees would withhold relevant information, we
protected the anonymity of informants and organizations by using proxy names. In the French
case, we conducted the interviews after ARESE merged with VIGEO in 2002, which made it
11