This chapter discusses the psychoanalytic foundations of organizational paradox. It argues that psychoanalytic theories offer a framework for the study of emotions in organizations and for the paradoxical tensions arising from emotions. It develops an analytical framework to discuss three core constructs of psychoanalytic thinking: unconscious emotions; defense mechanisms; and “the analytic attitude,” which is used to gain awareness of unconscious emotions, and as the basis of interventions to balance the contradictions (or paradoxical nature) of defense mechanisms. These constructs manifest in three dimensions of the workplace: among leaders, within groups, and in the organization itself. In the leadership dimension a new concept, the paradox of authority, to describe the tension between internal pulls and external roles that both support and undermine leadership, is introduced. It is shown how psychoanalytic theory can help to comprehend the power relationships embedded in implicit structures and their effects on organizational change.

A novel decision bias, called the evaluation bias (EB), was reported by White et al. (2014). In a sequence of two stimuli of opposite affective valence, evaluating the first stimulus leads to a more contrasting evaluation for the second one, compared to when the first stimulus is just observed. The EB is consistent with a long tradition of constructive influences or decision biases in questionnaire judgments. The prediction of the EB was based on the application of a quantum probability model, taking advantage of the unique role of evaluations in quantum probability. In the present work, we develop the quantum model so as to examine whether similar predictions are possible in the context of real questionnaires, where precise control over the relative valence of stimulus pairs is impossible. It is shown that an EB prediction can be extracted and we test this prediction in an organizational opinion survey, administered to a range of organizations across four experiments (total N = 868 and 84 organizations) and with two different languages. In all experiments, there was clear evidence for an EB. We examine the result with the quantum model and Hogarth and Einhorn's (1992) belief-adjustment model. Both models can broadly capture the empirical findings and so offer promise for providing a formal understanding of constructive influences.

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The desire to better understand the micro-behaviors of organizational actors has led to the increased use of video ethnography in management and qualitative research. Video captures detailed interactions and provides opportunities for researchers to link these to broader organizational processes. However, we argue there is a methodological gap. Studies that focus on the detail of the interactions “zoom in.” Others that focus on the interactions in context “zoom out.” But few go further and “zoom with”––that is, incorporate participants’ interpretations of their video-recorded interactions. Our methodological contribution is that zooming with participants enhances research findings, helps to develop theory, and provides new insights for management practice. The article develops this idea by exploring and describing the method and applying it to top management teams, as well as showing how each focus provides different theoretical insights depending on which perspective or combination of perspectives is used. We conclude with the suggestion that a three-pronged approach to video ethnography be taken. The final section of the article discusses the implications for research and highlights the benefits of reflexivity in management practice.

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