Constructivist Grounded Theory in Management Sciences: A Methodological Framework for Social Entrepreneurship Research in the Global South

Zoubida El BOUSSERGHINI; Bouchra LEBZAR

doi:10.23882/ijdam.26325

Auteurs

Zoubida El BOUSSERGHINI Cadi Ayyad University of Marrakech, Morocco
Bouchra LEBZAR Cadi Ayyad University of Marrakech, Morocco

DOI :

https://doi.org/10.23882/ijdam.26325

Mots-clés :

Constructivist Grounded Theory, qualitative methodology, management sciences, social entrepreneurship, Global South

Résumé

Qualitative research in management sciences has expanded significantly, yet methodological clarity remains underdeveloped - particularly in non-Western and emerging-economy contexts. This paper argues that Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT), as systematised by Charmaz (2006), offers a rigorous and contextually responsive methodological framework for management research. Three research gaps motivate this paper: the absence of epistemological coherence in many qualitative management studies; the insufficient articulation of CGT’s specific contributions to management sciences; and the lack of methodological guidance for researchers studying social entrepreneurship and cooperative management in Global South contexts. This paper makes three original contributions. First, it positions CGT within the broader paradigm landscape through two comparative tables. Second, it identifies five specific contributions of CGT to management research. Third, it develops an original argument for CGT’s suitability to social entrepreneurship research in the Global South, with Morocco as an illustrative context. The paper includes a process figure, explicit limitations, managerial implications, and a seven-step operational guide. An ongoing study on youth empowerment in rural Morocco (El Bousserghini and Lebzar, under review) serves as an illustrative application.

Références

Bryant, A. and Charmaz, K. (Eds.) (2007). The SAGE Handbook of Grounded Theory. Sage, London.

Burrell, G. and Morgan, G. (1979). Sociological Paradigms and Organizational Analysis. Heinemann, London.

Charmaz, K. (2000). Grounded theory: Objectivist and constructivist methods. In N.K. Denzin and Y.S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research (2nd ed., pp. 509–535). Sage, Thousand Oaks.

Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis. Sage, London.

Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing Grounded Theory (2nd ed.). Sage, London.

Dees, J.G. (1998). The Meaning of Social Entrepreneurship. Working Paper, Duke University Fuqua School of Business.

Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln, Y.S. (Eds.) (2011). The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research (4th ed.). Sage, Thousand Oaks.

DiMaggio, P.J. (1995). Comments on "What Theory is Not". Administrative Science Quarterly, 40(3), 391–397.

Eisenhardt, K.M. (1989). Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 532–550. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1989.4308385

Eisenhardt, K.M. and Graebner, M.E. (2007). Theory building from cases: Opportunities and challenges. Academy of Management Journal, 50(1), 25–32. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2007.24160888

El Bousserghini, Z. and Lebzar, B. (under review). Social Entrepreneurship Through Cooperatives as a Driver of Youth Empowerment in Rural Morocco: A Grounded Theory Analysis. Sustainability, MDPI.

Gage, N.L. (1989). The paradigm wars and their aftermath: A “historical” sketch of research on teaching since 1989. Educational Researcher, 18(7), 4–10.

Gephart, R.P. (2004). Qualitative research and the Academy of Management Journal. Academy of Management Journal, 47(4), 454–462. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2004.14438580

Glaser, B.G. (1992). Basics of Grounded Theory Analysis: Emergence vs. Forcing. Sociology Press, Mill Valley.

Glaser, B.G. and Strauss, A.L. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Aldine, Chicago.

Guba, E.G. and Lincoln, Y.S. (1994). Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In N.K. Denzin and Y.S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research (pp. 105–117). Sage, Thousand Oaks.

Jamali, D. and Mirshak, R. (2007). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Theory and practice in a developing country context. Journal of Business Ethics, 72(3), 243–262.

Kelle, U. (2005). “Emergence” vs. “forcing” of empirical data? A crucial problem of “grounded theory” reconsidered. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung, 6(2), Art. 27.

Lamine, W., Mian, S., Fayolle, A., Wright, M., Klofsten, M. and Etzkowitz, H. (2015). Technology business incubation mechanisms and sustainable regional development. Journal of Technology Transfer, 43(2), 1–21.

Lee, A.S. (1991). Integrating positivist and interpretive approaches to organizational research. Organization Science, 2(4), 342–365.

Lincoln, Y.S. and Guba, E.G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Sage, Newbury Park.

Mair, J. and Martí, I. (2006). Social entrepreneurship research: A source of explanation, prediction, and delight. Journal of World Business, 41(1), 36–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2005.09.002

Olivier de Sardan, J.P. (2008). La rigueur du qualitatif: Les contraintes empiriques de l’interprétation socio-anthropologique. Bruylant-Academia, Louvain-la-Neuve.

Paillé, P. and Mucchielli, A. (2003). L’analyse qualitative en sciences humaines et sociales. Armand Colin, Paris.

Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods (3rd ed.). Sage, Thousand Oaks.

Rorty, R. (1979). Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. Princeton University Press, Princeton.

Sandberg, J. (2005). How do we justify knowledge produced within interpretive approaches? Organizational Research Methods, 8(1), 41–68.

Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. Sage, Newbury Park.

Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of Qualitative Research (2nd ed.). Sage, Thousand Oaks.

Temple, B. and Young, A. (2004). Qualitative research and translation dilemmas. Qualitative Research, 4(2), 161–178. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794104044430

Tsang, E.W.K. (2014). Generalizing from research findings: The merits of case studies. International Journal of Management Reviews, 16(4), 369–383.

Weick, K.E. (1989). Theory construction as disciplined imagination. Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 516–531. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1989.4308376