Using Paradox to Build Management and Organization Theories

Poole, Marshall Scott; Ven, Andrew H. Van de

doi:10.5465/amr.1989.4308389

Cited by 1,142 publications

(1,038 citation statements)

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“…While researchers had long used 'paradox' as a loose umbrella term, scholars in the late 1980s began applying long-held premises from philosophy and psychology to better understand tensions in organizations and organization theory. Smith and Berg (1987) presented the contradictory sides of group behaviors; Quinn and Cameron (1988) mapped the tensions in organizational change; while Poole and Van de Ven (1989) suggested that contradictory explanations serve as a promising starting point for theory building. Early paradox research therefore challenged taken-for-granted assumptions embedded within the dominant either/or approaches to management research.…”

Section: Paradox Theory's Unique Valuementioning

confidence: 99%

Quo vadis, paradox? Centripetal and centrifugal forces in theory development

Schad

Lewis

Smith

2018

Strategic Organization

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Organizations increasingly face contradictory goals, multiple stakeholder expectations, and pluralistic missions that surface and intensify competing demands. Paradox theory offers a lens to understand and engage these tensions. Yet as research adopting a paradox lens continues to grow, scholars warn that its success could advance a dominant logic, which will ultimately hinder conceptual development and result in its downfall. We suggest that scholars can avoid this denigration by embracing theory development's driving forces; centripetal forces that define and buffer a conceptual core and centrifugal forces aimed at challenging the core and extending its boundaries. Although these forces' directions diverge, we depict these dual forces as paradoxical -contradictory and fundamentally interdependent. That is, we explore paradoxical forces of theory development to understand the development of paradox theory. We offer means to use, balance, and leverage these insights to help surface the black boxes in paradox research.

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Section: Paradox Theory's Unique Valuementioning

confidence: 99%

Quo vadis, paradox? Centripetal and centrifugal forces in theory development

Schad

Lewis

Smith

2018

Strategic Organization

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“…These alternative origins lead to divergent assumptions about paradox as inherently embedded within social systems (Ford & Backoff, 1988) or emerging through individual sensemaking practices. As a result, scholars alternatively emphasize the role of structural elements or agency to surface paradoxical tensions (Poole & Van de Ven, 1989). For example, whereas some scholars depict the tensions between exploring new possibilities and exploiting old certainties as embedded within adaptive systems (e.g., Andriopoulos & Lewis, 2009;March, 1991), others highlight senior leaders' agency to juxtapose these tensions and invoking their interrelationships (Smith & Tushman, 2005).…”

Section: Locus Of Paradoxical Tensionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diverging and Converging:Integrative Insights on a Paradox Meta-perspective

Fairhurst

Smith

Banghart

et al. 2016

The Academy of Management Annals

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“…As teorias são cortes alternativos de uma realidade multifacetada, que apresentam visões parciais. Cabe ao pesquisador utilizá-las, umas contra as outras, objetivando o ganho de insights provenientes de perspectivas múltiplas e das análises comparativas, selecionando-as e trabalhando nos seus relacionamentos, que oferecem oportunidades por meio das suas tensões, oposições, e contradições ao tentarem explicar o mesmo fenômeno (POOLE e VAN DE VEN, 1989).…”

Section: Referencial Teóricounclassified

Características da localização no processo de internacionalização de empresas

2011

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O artigo tem como objetivo analisar a influência das características da localização ao longo do processo de internacionalização. O conceito-chave localização é comparado transversalmente para fundamentar a análi-se empírica dos casos, com base em cinco modelos de internacionalização. A pesquisa caracteriza-se por sua abordagem longitudinal e por procedimentos metodológicos embasados na teoria adaptativa. A análise dos dados foi realizada em duas etapas: descritiva e pelo método de comparação constante, com o auxílio do software ATLAS/TI. À luz das propriedades do conceitochave, emergiram quatro manifestações significativas e de predominância distinta ao longo do tempo: modismo, vantagens (transacionais e comparativas) e desvantagens locacionais. As vantagens comparativas foram determinantes no início e impulsionaram o modismo na região. As vantagens transacionais encontram-se presentes em fases recentes, devido à abertura de subsidiárias no exterior, enquanto as desvantagens locacionais se destacam em decorrência de fenômenos do acaso não previstos. RESUMOAbstract This paper aims to analyze what extent the location influences the internationalization process of Brazilian companies. From five models of internationalization, that key concept is cross compared to explain the empirical analysis of the cases. The research is characterized by its longitudinal approach and methodological procedures based on the adaptive theory. Data analysis was performed in two stages: descriptive and the method of constant comparison, both using ATLAS/ti software. Based on the concept properties, four significant events emerged, with distinct dominance over time: trends, and comparative locational advantages (transactional and comparative) and disadvantages. The results show that the comparative advantages were decisive for the start of the internationalization and boosted the trends in the region. Transactional benefits are present in later stages, acquired through the opening of subsidiaries abroad. Locational disadvantages were also perceived throughout the whole process due to unforeseen chance events. keywords Internationalization process, localization, adaptive theory, Brazilian companies, agribusiness. Proceso de internacionalización, localización, teoría adaptativa, empresas brasilenãs, agronegocios. Resumen Palabras clave

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Using Paradox to Build Management and Organization Theories

Cited by 1,142 publications

References 18 publications

Quo vadis, paradox? Centripetal and centrifugal forces in theory development

Quo vadis, paradox? Centripetal and centrifugal forces in theory development

Diverging and Converging:Integrative Insights on a Paradox Meta-perspective

Características da localização no processo de internacionalização de empresas

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