Rack AH (Historical & Archival Methods): Archival Analysis (AH.A) | Historical Case Studies (AH.H)

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Archival research is one way to analyze organizational phenomena in the past, much like how archaeologists use artifacts to understand ancient civilizations. It involves systematically examining existing records, documents, and data that organizations have created over time, not unlike detective work where researchers piece together organizational stories from the paper trails left behind. The difference with historical case studies is that archival research relies on primary sources that have not yet been analyzed in order to either test present-day theories or induce new theories to inform future research. In contrast, historical cases are more context-driven and may include primary sources alongside secondary and tertiary analyses to better understand what happened within the case.

What are the Benefits of Archival Research?

If one can locate sufficient quantities of primary source materials, there is potential for conducting this kind of research. But this is a big ‘if’ — more on that in a moment. But first, the following are some of the benefits of doing archival research if the option is available.

Potential for examining organizational (and industry-level) change over time. One of the most powerful uses of archival research is retrospectively tracking how organizations have evolved in some way. For example, one might be studying organizational culture and want to know how the culture has shifted over the course of decades, perhaps illuminating where the present-day culture came from if this is an extant organization. One could also examine a series of strategic changes in the organization — examining how one attempt at change influenced subsequent changes.

To accomplish this, one might need to collect internal memos, annual reports, meeting minutes, and policy documents spanning those years. The goal would be to reconstruct a longitudinal perspective to reveal the evolutions of organizational structures and behaviors (Ocasio et al., 2016). Researchers may then be able to explain how historical narratives influence present-day organizational identities (Decker, 2014) and craft (hopefully) comprehensive organizational histories that take into account evolving institutional practices (Gill et al., 2017). Archival research can therefore be conducted at various levels of analysis, from the micro (Barnes et al., 2015) to the macro (Rusnaedi, 2022).

Studying Strategic Decision-Making Processes. Scholars are often motivated to uncover the “why” behind major organizational decisions, especially when the decisions made appear counterintuitive or otherwise baffling in retrospect. What were they thinking? Perhaps the more proper question is what were they thinking at the time the decision was made? Sources like board meeting transcripts, strategic planning documents, and correspondence among executives may allow researchers to trace the internal and external factors that shaped the decision, especially those that managers have kept hidden from outside view. The goal is to capture decision-making as it actually happened, not as people remember it happening years later. Implications for present-day practice can be significant, not just to help managers do their jobs but also to improve the storage and retrieval of archival information to make it more useful for decision-making (Rusnaedi, 2022).

Validating or Challenging Existing Theories. New theories are regularly proposed, but scholars may want to know if they can be applied to historical events. Perhaps the new theory better explains what happened and why as compared to available theories at that time? Or perhaps the new theory could be improved through the use archival research. Archival research provides an excellent way to test organizational theories against real-world evidence. If a theory suggests that certain leadership styles lead to specific outcomes, researchers can examine past cases to see if the evidence supports or contradicts these predictions.

In addition to contributing to theoretical frameworks, archival research can inform methodological innovations. The establishment of robust archival management practices aids in the preservation of essential organizational memory and facilitates the development of narratives that accurately reflect organizational experiences (Heller, 2023; Maclean et al., 2020). By utilizing archival ethnography and source criticism methodologies, researchers can generate more trustworthy historical narratives, essential for understanding how organizations remember and learn from their pasts (Rowlinson et al., 2014a, 2014b).

Above all, the beauty of archival research lies in its objectivity. This is because the archived documents were created for organizational purposes, not those of research purposes. Thus, they are more likely to represent unfiltered organizational realities. However, this strength also presents challenges as not all organizations preserve complete or well-organized records. While the age of digitization may promise the abilities to collect, store, and retrieve more data, that does not mean that researchers will have an easier time using it. Thus, researchers must be skilled at interpreting documents within their proper context. As we learned in Episode 128 on the moon shot, this is not easy – especially for those schooled in quantitative methods.

Considerations and Challenges for Conducting Archival Research

Much of this section mirrors that of the historical case study (shelf AH.H) as from a methodological perspective the differences are small. Most case study and qualitative research books include discussions of archival research, whether as a separate topic (e.g., Yin, 2014) or as a component or subcategory of other qualitative methods (e.g., Creswell, 2013 and case research). The primary differences from other qualitative case methods (see Racks AF and AH) is that only certain sources of evidence will be available — predominately documentation, archival records, and physical artifacts. Yin (2014: 106) lists the following as types of documentation one may find (and we’ve added a few others) but warns that even written documentation that is purported to be primary source can have been edited or filtered in some way. Translated documentation can be particularly challenging if the researcher is not familiar with the original language as translations often have errors:

• Letters, memoranda, diaries or journals, calendars, and other personal notes
• Agendas, announcements, minutes of meetings, and other written reports of events
• Administrative documents such as proposals, progress reports, logs, and other records
• Formal studies or evaluations
• Any form of written or spoken media or artwork/designs

Challenges with Collecting Archives. Archival records are similar except they tend to be public records or databases rather than personal property (Yin, 2014: 109) and physical artifacts are generally not emphasized (unlike historical cases). However, Yin (2014:106) also identifies that privacy and confidentiality concerns can factor into one’s abilities to collect the needed documents. For example, many governments establish classification systems on their documents that through legal or regulatory means are restricted from public access. A classified document (e.g., “confidential”) may therefore be kept hidden and not releasable to the public until a set time period (e.g., twenty-five years) has elapsed, after which the document is automatically declassified. Also, some archival documents might have important details redacted such as names, dates, and locations in order to protect the identifies of individuals while allowing the general information to be made publicly available. One may encounter this with investigations or human resource activities to protect personally identifiable information (PII).

Another consideration not mentioned in these books is that some organizations purge their archives intentionally after so many years (for example, some financial records must be retained for a set period of time, after which they may be destroyed) or if the organization underwent a merger or was sold, archives prior that event may have been destroyed or retained by the previous owner.

Criticality of Having Clear Research Questions and Methodological Frameworks. Archival research does allow for scholars to discover or induce important findings, but that does not mean that they can take a “blank slate” approach to doing the research. Quite the opposite. In order to find something interesting among a collection of potential random, inconsistent, and likely contradictory documentation, one must know what one is looking for. There has to be a research question to ground the search and focus the analysis. This was among the major lessons that came out of Episode 128, when Drew Carton explained the intention behind his work to uncover how NASA was able to build such a strong, unified, and dedicated culture leading to the moon shot.

Researchers must also adopt techniques that allow them to extract meaningful interpretations from the archives collected, and new methodologies are becoming available. For example, Decker (2014) present archival ethnography as a potential method for engaging deeply with corporate materials and understanding organizations’ historical contexts thoroughly. Reflexive approaches towards using documents have also been proposed to help scholars engage with their own biases when analyzing the historical context of the documents and constructing the organization’s narratives (Barros et al., 2019; Rowlinson et al., 2014). These biases can include availability bias whereby the researcher is swayed by what is in the archival record but overlooks cues that may indicate other factors such as important informal conversations that were not recorded. There is also hindsight bias whereby the researcher may come to view an outcome as inevitable because it is known rather than as the result of the uncertainty and complexity surrounding the decision beforehand (using an American football metaphor, this is commonly known as Monday morning quarterbacking). Finally, there is the common problem of subjectivity involved in both the development of the document (i.e., was the author or secretary filtering information when writing it?) and its interpretation by the researcher.

Curated List of Resources from Leading Publications

The following list of archival research studies are offered as examples. Listeners are encouraged to recommend additional readings!

Carton, A. M. (2018). “I’m not mopping the floors, I’m putting a man on the moon”: How NASA leaders enhanced the meaningfulness of work by changing the meaning of work. Administrative Science Quarterly, 63(2), 323-369.

We will start with the article that inspired us to include this page in the Resource Center and that we covered in Episode 128. The apocryphal story of the janitor referenced in the title represented a time and place where everyone in the organization (in this case, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA) felt something special about their work. No matter what their roles were in NASA, each worker was able to connect their work directly with the overall mission of putting someone on the moon and returning them safely to Earth. How was this done? Through an extensive review of thousands of archival documents, Carton was not only able to supply ample evidence of such unity of purpose and effort, he successfully laid out a framework that explains how the actions of President Kennedy and NASA leaders accomplished this.

Not only was the study important, but the paper was also cited as a landmark example of archival research as a way to conduct inductive analysis. Carton was able to access thousands of primary source documents and read interviews of employees. By applying sensegiving theory and other tools, he immersed himself in both the macro perspective of President Kennedy and the micro perspective of the individual worker to see the connections of how and why leader sensegiving was successful

Barnes, C. M., Dang, C. T., Leavitt, K., Guarana, C. L., & Uhlmann, E. L. (2018). Archival data in micro-organizational research: A toolkit for moving to a broader set of topics. Journal of Management, 44(4), 1453-1478.

This paper addresses the underutilization of archival data in micro-organizational studies, providing a framework for integrating archival research into themes like compensation, turnover, and organizational commitment. The authors suggest methodologies for expanding the usage of archival sources beyond traditional topics, making it helpful for students interested in micro-level organizational dynamics.

Maclean, M., Shaw, G., Harvey, C., & Booth, A. (2020). Management learning in historical perspective: Rediscovering Rowntree and the British interwar management movement. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 19(1), 1-20.

Through an analysis of various archives, this research connects management theories from the British interwar period to contemporary organizational learning. The authors constructed an online repository that facilitates further research, ideal for students looking to understand how historical education and management practices intersected.

Heller, M. (2023). Rethinking historical methods in organization studies: Organizational source criticism. Organization Studies, 44(6), 987-1002.

The author discusses the importance of source criticism in archival research, including the need to triangulate data from various archival sources to construct a more accurate picture of an organization’s history. This article may be helpful for students who wish to deepen their methodological approaches when engaging with historical documents.

Decker, S. (2013). The silence of the archives: Business history, post-colonialism and archival ethnography. Management & Organizational History, 8(2), 155-173.

This work highlights how postcolonial contexts influence the creation and interpretation of business archives. It is crucial for students seeking to understand the implications of colonial histories on contemporary organizational studies and the ethical considerations in archival research .

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References

Anthropic. (2025). What is archival research used for in organizational studies? What is necessary for archival research to be effective in organizational studies? What are great examples of archival research done in organizational studies that students should read? What are major criticisms against archival research and how can students mitigate those concerns when they perform their research studies? What are some highly recommended resources students can use for learning more about archival research methods? Claude (April 2025 version) [Large Language Model].

Barnes, C. M., Dang, C. T., Leavitt, K., Guarana, C. L., & Uhlmann, E. L. (2018). Archival data in micro-organizational research: A toolkit for moving to a broader set of topics. Journal of Management, 44(4), 1453-1478. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206315604188

Carton, A. M. (2018). “I’m not mopping the floors, I’m putting a man on the moon”: How NASA leaders enhanced the meaningfulness of work by changing the meaning of work. Administrative Science Quarterly, 63(2), 323-369.

Creswell, J. W. (2013). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage.

Decker, S. (2013). The silence of the archives: Business history, post-colonialism and archival ethnography. Management & Organizational History, 8(2), 155-173. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449359.2012.761491

Decker, S. (2014). Solid intentions: An archival ethnography of corporate architecture and organizational remembering. Organization, 21(4), 514-542. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508414527252

Gill, M. J., Gill, D. J., & Roulet, T. J. (2018). Constructing trustworthy historical narratives: Criteria, principles and techniques. British Journal of Management, 29(1), 191-205. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12262

Heller, M. (2023). Rethinking historical methods in organization studies: Organizational source criticism. Organization Studies, 44(6), 987-1002. https://doi.org/10.1177/01708406231156978

Maclean, M., Shaw, G., Harvey, C., & Booth, A. (2020). Management learning in historical perspective: Rediscovering Rowntree and the British interwar management movement. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 19(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2018.0301

Ocasio, W., Mauskapf, M., & Steele, C. W. (2016). History, society, and institutions: The role of collective memory in the emergence and evolution of societal logics. Academy of Management Review, 41(4), 676-699. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2014.0183

Rowlinson, M., Casey, A., Hansen, P. H., & Mills, A. J. (2014a). Narratives and memory in organizations. Organization, 21(4), 441-446. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508414527256

Rowlinson, M., Hassard, J., & Decker, S. (2014b). Research strategies for organizational history: A dialogue between historical theory and organization theory. Academy of Management Review, 39(3), 250-274. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2012.0203

Rusnaedi. (2022). Archives Effectiveness in Improving Administrative Services. Journal of Indonesian Scholars for Social Research, 2(2), 83–90. https://doi.org/10.59065/jissr.v2i2.33

Scite. (2025). What is archival research used for in organizational studies? What is necessary for archival research to be effective in organizational studies? What are great examples of archival research done in organizational studies that students should read? What are major criticisms against archival research and how can students mitigate those concerns when they perform their research studies? What are some highly recommended resources students can use for learning more about archival research methods? Scite (June 2025 version) [Large Language Model].

Weiner, S. A., Morris, S., & Mykytiuk, L. J. (2015). Archival literacy competencies for undergraduate history majors. The American Archivist, 78(1), 154-180. https://doi.org/10.17723/0360-9081.78.1.154

Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research and applications, 5th ed. Sage.

The inclusion of external links does not necessarily constitute endorsement by TAOP or any of its members.

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