Enriching action research with the narrative approach and activity theory: analyzing the consequences of an intervention in a public sector hospital in Finland Anu Kajamaa* Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning (CRADLE), Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland (Received 25 July 2011; final version received 31 October 2011) As early as 15 years ago, it was claimed that organizational intervention research lacks consensus about research methods and theory and that more sys- tematic efforts are needed to overcome this theoretical–methodological gap in knowledge. This study aims at contributing to the development of theory and methodology in the field of organizational intervention research. The study puts action research, narrative inquiry and activity theory into interplay in a novel way. Theory and practice are in a dialogical relationship in the study. An empir- ical case is presented of a public-sector hospital unit that was in crisis and took part in an organizational change process based on action research. The study asks what a combinatory framework can offer the theoretical and methodologi- cal development of organizational intervention research. The long-term conse- quences of the project are here traced and analyzed by conducting ethnographic field research, including narrative inquiry. A meta-analysis of the action research process and narrative accounts is conducted with activity–theoretical concepts of material–artifact mediation and object-oriented activity. Keywords: narratives; organizational change; activity; object; mediating artifacts 1. Introduction Action research, narrative inquiry and activity theory can all be applied in the study of organizations and organizational transformations. All of the approaches are used widely within a range of disciplines. Narrative inquiry refers to a qualitative approach used for researching and understanding human meaning construction. Narrative inquiry can also refer to a research method (see Clandinin and Connelly 2000). Some studies among organization studies take a narrative stance on organiza- tions and organizational change (for example, Gabriel 2000; Czarniawska 2004, 2007). Narrative research emphasizes sense-making, temporality and historicity, and thus has the potential to capture the consequences of past organizational change efforts. The limitations of the previous narrative studies usually relate to their theoretical–methodological groundings, which are not always explicated in the con- ducted studies. Despite their strengths, narrative research and analysis have been criticized for being unclear about their epistemological commitments (Redwood *Email: anu.kajamaa@helsinki.fi Educational Action Research Vol. 20, No. 1, March 2012, 75–93 ISSN 0965-0792 print/ISSN 1747-5074 online Ó 2012 Educational Action Research http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2012.647667 http://www.tandfonline.com