Reclaiming Theory Building in Leadership Development Research: Why Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) Grounded Theory Remains Methodologically Central

Abstract

Grounded theory has become one of the most widely adopted qualitative methodologies within leadership and organisational research due to its capacity to explore process, interaction, and meaning-making in complex social environments. However, despite its widespread application, concerns have emerged that some contemporary grounded theory studies increasingly generate descriptive thematic frameworks rather than integrated explanatory theory. This paper argues that the progressive de-emphasis of axial coding, the paradigm model, and the explicit identification of a central phenomenon within later grounded theory developments has unintentionally weakened grounded theory’s original theorybuilding mandate. Drawing on the methodological evolution of grounded theory from Glaser and Strauss (1967) through Strauss and Corbin (1990; 1998), Corbin and Strauss (2008; 2015), and constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006; 2014), the paper critically examines the growing convergence between grounded theory and thematic analysis within leadership
development scholarship. Anchored in Taylor’s (2013) grounded theory study of servant leadership development, the paper demonstrates how Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) paradigm model enabled the construction of an integrated explanatory theory linking causal conditions, contextual influences, action/interaction strategies, and developmental consequences across institutional settings. The paper contends that leadership development research requires analytic architectures capable of explaining how leadership identities and practices emerge, stabilise, and evolve over time. Retaining Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) grounded theory framework is therefore positioned not as methodological rigidity, but as a necessary safeguard for preserving grounded theory’s explanatory and theory-generating capacity within contemporary qualitative
leadership research.