Methodological Synthesis: Incorporating a Historical Paradigm into a Case Study Approach for Organizational Dynamics Research
Keywords:
Archival Research, Case Study, Historical Institutional Approach, Historical Institutionalism, Organizational DynamicAbstract
Epistemologically, a case study approach and archival research differ in their research traditions, including their temporal emphasis, data collection processes, and methods of interpreting and analyzing data. Whilst a case study is centered around an empirical investigation of contemporary issues and a generalization of case findings through theoretical proposition, archival research is, by contrast, concerned with uniqueness and particularity of historical narratives as a series of events unfolded. This long–held belief has wielded an enormous influence on whether researchers should adopt a case study approach or to [re-]construct an historical account as if they were sharply demarcated. However, this conventional paradigm is found to be very limited, if not problematic, for addressing complex issues in organizational dynamics e.g., an insight into a persistence and change mechanism as well as a legitimization process. To understand why and how organizations have reached their current state, including the decisions they made, the advantages of each methodology should be utilized in a complementary way. In this article, a privatization of British Railways (BR) is exemplified as practical application of methodological synthesis. The example highlights how a notion of dualism in various aspects–explanation, evidence, and temporality–can help ease methodological tensions between two different approaches. It also reveals that performance improvement does not fully capture the complexities of BR’s organizational restructuring. In fact, a legitimization process and paradoxical results are more socially and politically complex than improving organizational efficiency. In short, the article has contributed not only by discussing how the archives can be useful in fabricating an historical–institutional account of organizational dynamics but also why a case study approach in organization studies should be more concerned with its past development and change–methodological contribution to the subject area.
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