Abstract
Disruptive innovation and the increased speed of digital transformation not only challenge business, industry, and society. Also scholars, especially in the field of Business Informatics and Information Systems, have to break new ground. This paper investigates the Grounded Theory Methodology and presents it as a 'technique' to develop scholarly innovation (i.e., new artifacts, concepts, categories, theories, etc.). The research problem of this paper can be outlined as follows: on the one hand, Heinrich (2005, 2012) concludes that the discipline of Business Informatics, which is composed of the partial discipline of Business Informatics, a theoretical and engineering-related research approach, and the partial discipline of Information Systems, a formal scientific related research approach, lacks in the research methodological education of researchers. On the other hand, the discipline can rely on existing knowledge. For example, Wolfswinkel et al. (2013) present a five-stage grounded-theory method in the field of information systems research for reviewing the literature. In both cases, the questions about the GTM’s philosophy, ontology, and epistemology are left open. Based on a Grounded Theory Methodology managed literature review, this paper investigates these issues. In doing so, it presents advances in the course of the Grounded Theory Methodology at the philosophical, ontological, and epistemological level and augments and enriches Wolfswinkel et al. (2013) five-stage grounded-theory method. It supports scholars in the building of theory inductively – based on quantitative and qualitative empirical data. This literature review provides knowledge about the ongoing discussion about how the Grounded Theory Methodology can be better mastered and applied – especially for scholars within the disciplines of Business Informatics.