TOWARD A THEORY OF PARADOX: A DYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM MODEL OF ORGANIZING.

TLDR

Global, dynamic, competitive organizational environments intensify contradictory demands, prompting scholars and practitioners to adopt a paradox lens to understand and explain these tensions. The study reviews paradox literature, categorizing types and debates, and introduces a dynamic equilibrium model of organizing. The model shows how cyclical responses to paradoxical tensions create a dynamic equilibrium that sustains peak performance now while enabling future success. The review and model establish a foundational theory of paradox.

Abstract

As organizational environments become more global, dynamic, and competitive, contradictory demands intensify. To understand and explain such tensions, academics and practitioners are increasingly adopting a paradox lens. We review the paradox literature, categorizing types and highlighting fundamental debates. We then present a dynamic equilibrium model of organizing, which depicts how cyclical responses to paradoxical tensions enable sustainability—peak performance in the present that enables success in the future. This review and the model provide the foundation of a theory of paradox.