Generative Consensus-building as a Basic Social Process A Classic Grounded Theory of Leading Positive Change in Japanese Schools

Abstract

This study applies the classic grounded theory methodology of Barney Glaser to identify the fundamental social process by which stakeholders in Japanese schools resolve their primary concern in the face of organizational change. Through constant comparative analysis and theoretical sampling, the data revealed a persistent tension: how to maintain organizational harmony within a collectivist culture while simultaneously effecting meaningful change. To account for the way participants resolved this concern, a core category emerged in the form of generative consensus-building. This is a mode of collective decision-making characterized by open dialogue, inclusive participation, and a genuine distribution of autonomy, an exercise in collective intelligence rather than a tool of social control. The theory is structured around a code that unfolds in three recursive phases: preliminary deliberation, structured negotiation, and collective endorsement. These phases can be understood along a spectrum, ranging from a ritualized mode prone to stalling under conditions of hierarchical gatekeeping and pressure to conform, to a generative mode in which the right structural and cultural conditions allow the process to serve as an engine for lasting reform. Consistent with classic grounded theory tenets, the substantive literature was withheld until the core category had emerged. The study offers both a conceptual account of consensus-building in Japanese education and a practical resource for practitioners and policymakers seeking culturally consonant strategies for change.