Using grounded theory as a method for rigorously reviewing literature

Abstract

This paper offers guidance to conducting a rigorous literature review. We present this in the form of a five-stage process in which we use Grounded Theory as a method. We first probe the guidelines explicated by Webster and Watson, and then we show the added value of Grounded Theory for rigorously analyzing a carefully chosen set of studies; it assures solidly legitimized, in-depth analyses of empirical facts and related insights. This includes, the emergence of new themes, issues and opportunities; interrelationships and dependencies in or beyond a particular area; as well as inconsistencies. If carried out meticulously, reviewing a well-carved out piece of literature by following this guide is likely to lead to more integrated and fruitful theory emergence, something that would enrich many fields in the social sciences.

Keywords:

• grounded theory
• systematic state-of-the-art literature reviews
• theory development
• theory emergence

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joost F Wolfswinkel

About the authors

Joost F. Wolfswinkel is a research associate at the Department of Information Systems & Change Management (IS&CM) at the University of Twente (UT), the Netherlands. Before joining the IS&CM group, he studied at the Department of Computer Science at the UT. He was an IT project manager for a consultancy firm and is the co-founder of an IT-company. His research interests are IT service innovation, software engineering, software management and e-recruiting services research. He regularly presents his latest research at various international conferences such as the European Conference on Information Systems and the International Conference of Information Systems.

Elfi Furtmueller

Elfi Furtmueller is an assistant professor at the Department of Information Systems & Change Management at the University of Twente (UT), the Netherlands. Before joining the UT, she worked at the Institute of Management, Innovation and Organization at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley. She obtained her doctorate in Organizational Behaviour from the University of Linz, Austria. She teaches in the Master's program Information Systems & Service Management. She also has gained several years of professional experience in human resource management. Although her research is theoretically grounded in social-psychology and service management theory (commitment, identification, customer bonding and retention), she applies these concepts to e-recruiting services research. Furtmueller is also actively engaged in e-recruiting practice involving the realization of information systems design for career management. She co-founded an Austrian-wide e-recruiting service for university graduates http://absolventen.at. Her research appeared in various international journals such as the Journal of Service Management, International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction, Human Systems Management, European Journal of Information Systems, European Journal of Management, Team Performance Management; she currently serves on the Editorial Board of the British Journal of Management. Furtmueller, regularly presents her research at the European Conference on Information Systems, International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems, Academy of Management Meetings and Conference on Business Information Systems.

Celeste P M Wilderom

Celeste P.M. Wilderom is full Professor ‘Management & Organizational Behavior in the Private and the Public Sector’ (University of Twente, the Netherlands). She holds a Ph.D. from the State University of New York, Buffalo (U.S.A., 1987) and conducts research on organizational culture, leadership, change and service management. She is one of the three editors of the award-winning 1st edition of the Handbook of Organizational Culture & Climate (2000, Sage). A completely revised 2nd edition is published by Sage in December 2011. A recent Culture publication appeared in the Journal of Strategy and Management (2008). A number of state-of the- art reviews, one on the e-Recruiting literature (together with Dr. Elfi Furtmueller), is forthcoming. Other of her papers have appeared in Organization Science; Journal of Organization Behavior; Leadership Quarterly, Accounting, Organization and Society; Applied Psychology and so on. In 2002, she initiated and since then co-chaired, within the annual European Group of Organization Studies meetings, the standing-work group on ‘Professional Service Organizations and Knowledge-intensive Work’. She is a senior editor of the British Journal of Management. She is also involved in the Journal of Management Inquiry, and previously associate editor of the Academy of Management Executive (now Perspectives) and the International Journal of Service Industry Management (now Journal of Service Management).