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.
%0 Journal Article
%1 smith2011paradox
%A Smith, Wendy K.
%A Lewis, Marianne W.
%D 2011
%I The Academy of Management
%J Academy of Management Review
%K contingency_theory management organizational_behaviour organizational_sociology paradox statistics
%N 2
%P 381--403
%R 10.5465/amr.2009.0223
%T Toward a Theory of Paradox: A Dynamic equilibrium Model of Organizing
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/amr.2009.0223
%V 36
%X 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.
@article{smith2011paradox,
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. },
added-at = {2016-09-21T14:41:44.000+0200},
author = {Smith, Wendy K. and Lewis, Marianne W.},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2491baaf630c4594bca7b789e2b88f48c/meneteqel},
doi = {10.5465/amr.2009.0223},
interhash = {3009493a45beead2f1c910181518cba3},
intrahash = {491baaf630c4594bca7b789e2b88f48c},
journal = {Academy of Management Review},
keywords = {contingency_theory management organizational_behaviour organizational_sociology paradox statistics},
month = apr,
number = 2,
pages = {381--403},
publisher = {The Academy of Management},
timestamp = {2016-09-21T14:41:44.000+0200},
title = {Toward a Theory of Paradox: A Dynamic equilibrium Model of Organizing},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/amr.2009.0223},
volume = 36,
year = 2011
}