IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jomstd/v60y2023i4p861-888.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Paradox, Dialectics or Trade‐Offs? A Double Loop Model of Paradox

Author

Listed:
  • Marco Berti
  • Miguel Pina e Cunha

Abstract

Paradox literature is emerging as one of the most vital streams in management studies, but it is affected by some growing pains. First, the concept of paradox is still too fuzzy, which impacts empirical research and hinders communication with other literatures. Second, the assumption that paradoxes are always best met with acceptance and search for balance is problematic because it limits the heuristic potential of a paradox lens, because it constrains the range of sustainable responses to contradictions, and because it may induce to appeasement in face of injustice. In this paper we propose to strengthen paradox theory by incorporating the contributions of two alternative perspectives on organizational tensions: trade‐offs and dialectics. We thus present a model which expands organizational paradox theory by: (1) clarifying the concept of organizational paradox; and (2) offering a model that better describes the varied phenomenology, causes and consequences of organizational tensions and paradoxes.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Berti & Miguel Pina e Cunha, 2023. "Paradox, Dialectics or Trade‐Offs? A Double Loop Model of Paradox," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 861-888, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:60:y:2023:i:4:p:861-888
    DOI: 10.1111/joms.12899
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12899
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/joms.12899?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Constantine Andriopoulos & Marianne W. Lewis, 2009. "Exploitation-Exploration Tensions and Organizational Ambidexterity: Managing Paradoxes of Innovation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 696-717, August.
    2. Mats Alvesson & André Spicer, 2012. "A Stupidity-Based Theory of Organizations," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(7), pages 1194-1220, November.
    3. Bledow, Ronald & Frese, Michael & Anderson, Neil & Erez, Miriam & Farr, James, 2009. "A Dialectic Perspective on Innovation: Conflicting Demands, Multiple Pathways, and Ambidexterity," Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(3), pages 305-337, September.
    4. Venkataraman, S. & VAN de VEN, Andrew H., 1998. "Hostile environmental jolts, transaction set, and new business," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 231-255, May.
    5. Sebastian Raisch & Timothy J. Hargrave & Andrew H. van de Ven, 2018. "The Learning Spiral: A Process Perspective on Paradox," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(8), pages 1507-1526, December.
    6. Pacheco-de-Almeida , Gonçalo & Henderson, James E. & Cool , Karel, 2008. "Resolving the Commitment vs. Flexibility Trade-Off: The Role of Resource Accumulation Lags," HEC Research Papers Series 987, HEC Paris.
    7. Jonathan Schad & Pratima Bansal, 2018. "Seeing the Forest and the Trees: How a Systems Perspective Informs Paradox Research," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(8), pages 1490-1506, December.
    8. O'Reilly, Charles A., III & Tushman, Michael L., 2013. "Organizational Ambidexterity: Past, Present and Future," Research Papers 2130, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    9. Tyler Wry & Eric Yanfei Zhao, 2018. "Taking Trade-offs Seriously: Examining the Contextually Contingent Relationship Between Social Outreach Intensity and Financial Sustainability in Global Microfinance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(3), pages 507-528, June.
    10. Riviezzo, Angelo & Garofano, Antonella & Napolitano, Maria Rosaria & Marino, Vittoria, 2015. "Moving forward or running to standstill? Exploring the nature and the role of family firms’ strategic orientation," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 190-205.
    11. Mikko Hänninen & Anssi Smedlund, 2021. "Same Old Song with a Different Melody: The Paradox of Market Reach and Financial Performance on Digital Platforms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(7), pages 1832-1868, November.
    12. Nicolaj Siggelkow & Daniel A. Levinthal, 2003. "Temporarily Divide to Conquer: Centralized, Decentralized, and Reintegrated Organizational Approaches to Exploration and Adaptation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(6), pages 650-669, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Al-Atwi, Amer Ali & Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph & Khan, Zaheer, 2021. "Micro-foundations of organizational design and sustainability: The mediating role of learning ambidexterity," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(1).
    2. Jan Ossenbrink & Joern Hoppmann & Volker H. Hoffmann, 2019. "Hybrid Ambidexterity: How the Environment Shapes Incumbents’ Use of Structural and Contextual Approaches," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(6), pages 1319-1348, November.
    3. Kristina Stoiber & Kurt Matzler & Julia Hautz, 2023. "Ambidextrous structures paving the way for disruptive business models: a conceptual framework," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1439-1485, May.
    4. Koryak, Oksana & Lockett, Andy & Hayton, James & Nicolaou, Nicos & Mole, Kevin, 2018. "Disentangling the antecedents of ambidexterity: Exploration and exploitation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 413-427.
    5. Tina C Ambos & Sebastian H Fuchs & Alexander Zimmermann, 2020. "Managing interrelated tensions in headquarters–subsidiary relationships: The case of a multinational hybrid organization," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(6), pages 906-932, August.
    6. Jan Ossenbrink & Joern Hoppmann, 2019. "Polytope Conditioning and Linear Convergence of the Frank–Wolfe Algorithm," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 44(1), pages 1319-1348, February.
    7. Shao, Yan & Nijstad, Bernard A. & Täuber, Susanne, 2019. "Creativity under workload pressure and integrative complexity: The double-edged sword of paradoxical leadership," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 7-19.
    8. Evers, Natasha & Andersson, Svante, 2021. "Predictive and effectual decision-making in high-tech international new ventures – A matter of sequential ambidexterity," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(1).
    9. Christine Chou & Steven O. Kimbrough, 2016. "An agent-based model of organizational ambidexterity decisions and strategies in new product development," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 4-46, March.
    10. Karl Aschenbrücker & Tobias Kretschmer, 2022. "Performance-based incentives and innovative activity in small firms: evidence from German manufacturing," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 11(2), pages 47-64, June.
    11. Tilson, David & Sørensen, Carsten & Lyytinen, Kalle J., 2021. "Digitally induced industry paradoxes: disruptive innovations of taxiwork and music streaming beyond organizational boundaries," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 106676, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. François Constant & Richard Calvi & Thomas Johnsen, 2020. "Managing tensions between exploitative and exploratory innovation through purchasing function ambidexterity Managing tensions between exploitative and exploratory innovation through purchasing functio," Post-Print hal-02891790, HAL.
    13. Jacobs, Sofie & Cambré, Bart, 2020. "Designers’ road(s) to success: Balancing exploration and exploitation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 241-249.
    14. Katharina Stelzl & Maximilian Röglinger & Katrin Wyrtki, 2020. "Building an ambidextrous organization: a maturity model for organizational ambidexterity," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 13(3), pages 1203-1230, November.
    15. Martin Owusu Ansah & Nicholas Addai-Boamah & Abeeku Bylon Bamfo & Lucy Afeafa Ry-Kottoh, 2022. "Organizational ambidexterity and financial performance in the banking industry: evidence from a developing economy," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 27(3), pages 250-263, September.
    16. Lulu Liu & Fengbin Wang & Xiukun Li, 2019. "Comparing the configured causal antecedents of exploration and exploitation: a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-25, December.
    17. Olga Kassotaki, 2022. "Review of Organizational Ambidexterity Research," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440221, March.
    18. Nowacki, Caroline & Monk, Ashby, 2020. "Ambidexterity in government: The influence of different types of legitimacy on innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    19. Arman Avadikyan & Gilles Lambert & Christophe Lerch, 2016. "A Multi-Level Perspective on Ambidexterity: The Case of a Synchrotron Research Facility," Working Papers of BETA 2016-44, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    20. Li, Xu & Vermeulen, Freek, 2021. "High risk, low return (and vice versa): the effect of product innovation on firm performance in a transition economy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 120268, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:60:y:2023:i:4:p:861-888. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-2380 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.