Strategic Paradox Research Articles

Unrestricted tobacco marketing prompts young adults to smoke in an emerging market: a study of emotional responses

ABSTRACT Despite tobacco manufacturers’ social responsibility claims about switching to less harmful products and strict marketing regulations, smoking is still being heavily promoted in emerging markets. This strategic paradox is highlighted by this research that provides fresh insights into young adult smokers’ exposure and reaction to unrestricted tobacco marketing in Vietnam. A survey with 440 responses tested a conceptual model relating the impacts of unregulated tobacco promotion on emotional responses (i.e. pleasure, arousal and dominance – PAD), and subsequent smoking approach behaviours. This model, tested using partial least square structural equation modelling, proved appropriate and well-explained by most constructs. The results demonstrated significant positive impact of tobacco marketing on young smokers’ emotions, particularly pleasure and arousal that increased smoking approach behaviours, such as smoking, tobacco purchase intention, seeking tobacco-related information and communicating with others about smoking. The need for more enforced evidence-based marketing regulations is highlighted and future research avenues discussed.

Structure and meaning in strategic paradoxes: Exploring historical context in the emergence of agrifood standards

This paper uses a historical case study of the emergence of a set of agrifood standards to explore the historical development of strategic paradoxes. The paper demonstrates the value of historical methodologies of ‘zooming in and out’ for understanding the contexts in which paradoxical organisational structures develop over time. We explore the evolution of a significant strategic paradox, showing how changing relations between UK poultry producers and food retailers led to the emergence of a fundamental innovation in agrifood standards. The paper contributes to paradox theory by developing a historically rooted analysis of how context—which we theorise as simultaneously structurally determinative and cognitively malleable—can explain why organisational actors come to ‘live with’ a paradoxical dynamic equilibrium in which dialectical power relations remain embedded.

Transitioning to a Circular Economy: Paradoxical Tensions of the Circular Business Model

The circular economy is seen as a way to replace the dominant linear business models, which are based solely on increasing economic value. However, organisations transitioning to a circular business model usually face multiple tensions arising from the paradoxical relationship between achieving circularity and creating economic value. Therefore, we combine the literature on circular business models and paradox theory to systematise knowledge on paradoxical tensions that occur while transitioning to circular business model. Following an abductive approach, the research methodology employs semi-structured interviews and observation in the cross-sectorial manufacturing context. The research results allow us to identify novel insights into organisational-level tensions, namely, goal setting, performance orientation, compliance, in-network collaboration, and innovation adoption. In addition, we define the concept of a strategic paradox in the circular economy, which acknowledges the tension between true circular products and products as usual.

Towards a circular economy: what paradoxical tensions do organizations face?

The circular economy emphasizes fundamental changes in today's dominating business models. Organizations dealing with circular innovation usually face multiple tensions emerging from the paradoxical relationship between circularity and economic value creation. The paper aims to explore tensions of implementing circular business model. Following an abductive approach, the research methodology employs semi-structured interview and observation methods in manufacturing industry. Research results lets us to identify various organizational-level tensions, that may lead to five groups of paradoxes, namely learning, organizing, performing, belonging and collaborating. We contribute by explaining how organizations response and deal with the complexity of the circular economy through paradox management perspective. Importantly, a strategic paradox in the field of the circular economy has been identified.

СТРАТЕГІЧНЕ УПРАВЛІННЯ ПІДПРИЄМСТВОМ ЯК БАГАТОВИМІРНИЙ ПРОСТІР ПАРАДОКСІВ

The expectation of strategic management of the enterprise is an attempt to choose the best strategy. It is established that there are no optimal strategies developed earlier and implemented later. An effective strategy is one that inspires and charges employees with energy: by implementing it, they make it successful. We find out if and to what extent the strategy is successful ex post, after its implementation. A fundamental common feature of successful enterprises is the ability to manage multivectority and paradox. It is substantiated that the paradox of the strategy is that a similar or even the same strategy, well planned and effectively implemented, can bring the company both success and failure. That is, strategies with the best chances of success also carry a high risk of failure. The paradox combines contradictions and is an expression of a cognitive attitude that rejects reductionism, which simplifies reality. Reconciliation of contradictions in business is a fundamental skill and a manifestation of creativity (management as an art). The ability to adaptively search for the ideal balance is called ambidexterity, in the effective use of diametrically different options. The article presents examples of strategic paradoxes faced by the management of enterprises in making key strategic decisions related to development. It is proved that the dualism of paradoxes allows to construct a theoretical multidimensional space of all possible strategies. It includes all completed and implemented strategies, as well as those that have not yet been implemented. The number of possible strategies in such a space is approaching infinity. The introduction of new business models and new strategies can be considered the effect of studying the multidimensional space of strategies. Each new technical or organizational invention may be accompanied by an expansion of this space by adding a new, unknown dimension. It is argued that the multidimensional space of strategic paradoxes is constantly expanding. It is established that the theory of strategic management must constantly solve its main paradox: the use of basic principles (science) and the creation of new solutions (art).

Demystifying the winning managerial characteristics for handling organizational paradoxes

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings This research paper concentrates on the impact that the managerial characteristics of age, educational background, and in-company tenure and in-role tenure have on a manager's ability to handle paradoxical priorities. The results reveal that an organization's strategic paradoxes are most effectively managed by older managers and by managers with longer tenure in their role and at the company overall. Unexpectedly, managers with an economics/business educational background were found to manage paradoxes less well than those with other educational backgrounds. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

CEO Sustainability Discourses: Tackling Tensions in Corporate Sustainability

The purpose of this paper is to examine how CEOs as influential organisational and societal actors use language to construct meanings for corporate sustainability and the tensions within. Building on the integrative framework on corporate sustainability and strategic paradoxes and applying discourse analysis on the empirical data of CEO interviews, this paper sheds more light on the company elite’s talk and their constructed understanding of the tensions in corporate sustainability. In doing so, the paper tells a story of the strengthening role of sustainability in corporate strategies. The preliminary findings of the paper are thematised in three discourses, instrumental, normative and change discourses. The discourses are contradictory, both with each other as well as within. The discourses consist of various tensions and competing demands that CEOs are trying to deal with. Furthermore, the findings of the study depict how the CEOs balance between the strategic objectives of exploiting and exploring while gradually incorporating sustainability more prominently into their businesses.

Managing strategic paradoxes: the influence of demographic characteristics of decision-makers

PurposeTogether with increasing ambiguity and frequency of changes, management becomes full of seemingly conflicting choices, i.e. paradoxes, coming up in the process of decision-making. Successful management of paradoxes, i.e. treating them as “both/and” constructs leads to innovative solutions and better overall organizational performance. In response to a significant research gap regarding antecedents of managing paradoxes, the aim of the paper is to investigate how individual characteristics of strategic decision-makers, specifically their age, tenure and educational background, affect the ability to combine contradictions in their strategic choices.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical study was conducted among 201 managers representing furniture companies in Poland. The CATI technique with an interview questionnaire was adopted in order to identify respondents' opinions on the main features, traits and dimensions of the strategy implemented in their companies. Participants' tenure, age and education were measured by single items.FindingsThe study suggests that the ability to manage paradoxes increases with age and tenure in a company and at a current position. At the same time economic/business educational background appears to be unsupportive in this regard.Originality/valueWhile the issue of managing paradoxes energizes researchers in various disciplines, we still do not know much about antecedents of the process. The study shed light on effects that managers' demographics have on their ability of managing paradoxes. It contributes to the theory on strategic paradoxes as well as theory on the influence of decision-makers' individual characteristics on their decisions.

Managing a Strategic Paradox across Organizational Boundaries

Top managers are increasingly embedding paradoxes into the goals of the firm’s strategy to reinforce both/and thinking and manage competing demands simultaneously. The paradox literature offers important insights into how management can address strategic paradoxes effectively. However, given that paradoxes are persistent by definition, the paradox literature theorizes surprisingly little about how firms can deal with continuously emerging tensions from strategic paradoxes. In this paper, we draw on an in-depth case study to examine how a top management team manages a strategic paradox that opposes organizational efficiency and employee identity goals. The study reveals how the proliferating tensions emerging from a strategic paradox may be managed by incorporating opportunities that reach beyond organizational boundaries. We identify a set of managerial practices that enact mutually exclusive, mutually constraining, mutually enabling, and mutually reinforcing relationships among contradictory elements, and that taken together offer an integrative and dynamic model of the management of strategic paradox. The model extends the previous literature by incorporating practices that traverse organizational boundaries, and by integrating a diverse set of practices into a holistic explanatory framework.

Buy now, pay later: American military intervention and the strategic cost paradox

ABSTRACTThis paper explores the notion that US efforts to evade the political costs of war paradoxically contribute to the subsequent exacerbation of costs over time. Leaders seek to purchase political capital in the short term by limiting the costs and requirements of military operations, but in doing so cause strategic and political liabilities to mount in the long run. While identification of such behaviour is not new, insufficient attention has been devoted to explaining its causes, dynamics, and manifestations in relation to key decisions on and in war. Evidence derived from studies of recent American discretionary campaigns is analysed to advance an argument with respect to this pattern of self-defeating strategic behaviour.

The knowledge protection paradox: imitation and innovation through knowledge sharing

Western multinational corporations (MNCs) that want market access in China have to share knowledge with Chinese partners. This may expose them to imitation, so MNCs prefer to protect knowledge resulting in a strategic paradox: MNCs have to both share and protect knowledge. To analyse this paradox, we developed a theoretical conceptual model capturing the tensions and feedback cycles of this paradox. Next, based on data from the shipbuilding industry, a system dynamics model was developed to simulate the long-term effects of sharing and protecting strategies. The results indicate that protection is detrimental to long-term success, because it undercuts the trust of the Chinese supplier and irreparably reduces innovation rates. Knowledge protection thus reduces instead of increases the ability to share (new) knowledge in the future. A sharing strategy increases imitation, but also trust and knowledge sharing by the Chinese partner, such that it enhances the MNC's innovation rate and long-term performance.

The chairperson and CEO roles interaction and responses to strategic tensions

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to use Stewart’s model of role as a lense from which to explore chairperson and CEO role dynamics in addressing strategic paradox and tension.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on 29 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with chairpersons and CEOs of UK-listed companies. Interview data are subjected to role analysis using Stewart’s (1982) Demands-Constraints-Choice (DCC) model of role.FindingsFindings indicate that relationship levels of trust, communication and chairperson time enable strategic tensions to be raised and confronted in the relationship reducing defensiveness. Two distinct approaches to handle strategic tensions are found. The CEO-led approach predominates and rests on less flexible role boundaries, requiring the chairperson to proactively identify strategic tensions and perform an advisory/mentoring role. The shared leadership approach, less prevalent, rests on highly flexible role boundaries where the skills and experience of each incumbent become more relevant, enabling the separation of efforts and integration of strategic tensions in the relationship in a “dynamic complementarity of function”.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper only applies to the UK context and is limited to contexts where CEO and chairperson roles are separate. The paper draws on individual perceptions of chairperson and CEOs (i.e. not pairs).Practical implicationsThe paper provides insights to practicing CEOs and chairperson on two distinct ways of working through strategic paradox and tensions.Originality/valueThe paper adds to the scarce literature at chairperson and CEO roles and strategic paradox and tension.

Defensive Responses to Strategic Sustainability Paradoxes: Have Your Coke and Drink It Too!

This study examines how the leading beverage company handles the strategic paradox between its core business and the social issue of obesity. A discursive analysis reveals how the organization does embrace a social goal related to obesity but not the paradoxical tension between this goal and its core business. The analysis further shows how the tension, along with the responsibility for the social goal, is projected outside the organization. This response is underpinned by the paradoxical constructions of consumers and the concept of obesity in the organization’s communication. Based on these findings, I outline a new type of process for projection, one of the defensive mechanisms recognized in the literature. The findings increase our understanding of defensive responses to organizational paradoxes and help distinguish between different kinds of strategic paradoxes. They also highlight the need to further open up the complexity and multiplicity of strategic paradoxes related to corporate sustainability.

Paradoxes of Entrepreneurial Thinking: Why Entrepreneurship Can Hardly Be Taught

This paper presents a literature review of research regarding teaching entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial thinking. It proposes 11 paradoxes of entrepreneurial thinking: the uncertainty paradox, the strategic paradox, the opportunity paradox, the experience paradox, the momentum paradox, the generalization paradox, the decision-making paradox, the impact paradox, the risk-taking paradox, the knowledge paradox and the trust paradox.

Editor, Executive and Entrepreneur

AbstractTo survive in today’s increasingly complex business environments, firms must embrace strategic paradoxes: contradictory yet interrelated objectives that persist over time. This can be one of toughest of all leadership challenges, as managers must accept inconsistency and contradictions. In this article, we develop and empirically test a set of hypotheses related to ambidexterity, a key example of a paradoxical strategy. Through our analysis of data from a survey of executive leaders, we find a link between organizational ambidexterity and strategic planning, suggesting that the complexities of navigating in explorative ventures require more explicit strategy work than the old certainties of a legacy business. We identify and discuss inherent paradoxes and their implications for firm performance in 22 industry-specific strategies, where empirical industry data shows a pattern of conflict between explorative growth strategies and exploitative profit strategies. We argue that this is just one of the inherent paradoxes in the ambidexterity construct.

Book Review: MLR Smith and David Martin Jones, The Political Impossibility of Modern Counterinsurgency: Strategic Problems, Puzzles and Paradoxes

Book Review: MLR Smith and David Martin Jones, <i>The Political Impossibility of Modern Counterinsurgency: Strategic Problems, Puzzles and Paradoxes</i>

Solving Strategic Paradoxes through Organizational Ambidexterity - A Foray into the Literature -

Abstract In a world of unprecedented (diachronic and synchronic) complexities like ours, firms are forced to deal with an increasing number of organizational paradoxes that challenge their strategic choices. Under these circumstances, ambidexterity could become a (dynamic) core competence for firms, making the ambidextrous organization an imperative for businesses more than ever before. The paper aims to explore, based on an integrative approach, the most relevant literature on the interdependencies between the two topics (strategic paradoxes and organizational ambidexterity), in order to identify the most important thesis, arguments and solutions that support the ambidextrous organization, four decades after its first introduction into the academic literature (Duncan, 1976).

The political impossibility of modern counterinsurgency: strategic problems, puzzles, and paradoxes

The political impossibility of modern counterinsurgency: strategic problems, puzzles, and paradoxes

The U.S. Strategic Paradox, Third-Party Proxies, and Special Operations Forces

The author argues that the United States faces a strategic paradox where values conflict with the ability to develop and implement coherent strategies in the complex and dynamic world of today and the future. Special Operations Forces’ ability to be effective in the contexts of foreign environments may mean future reliance on proxy forces that offer plausible deniability for U.S policy makers. However, such opportunities come with a potential of heightened strategic risk that must be carefully managed and judged. The author provides examples of historical cases of effective use of third-party proxies, which may become a template for partner nations and Special Operations Forces to effectively meet future challenges while coping with the strategic paradox that currently limits capabilities.

POSITIVE MANAGEMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY

Purpose: To demonstrate that contemporary universities may be improved by synthesis of strategic antinomies, i.e. seeking the possibility of combining opposite approaches to solving problems concerning university organization and management. Findings: That approach discounts the importance of building positive relationships between members of staff and undertaking activities intended to create a situation where the sheer joy of work will dominate in universities. This in turn will promote integration of the academic environment and induce employees to strive for mastery to find pleasure and satisfaction rather than to achieve specific effects of their activity, which eventually will lead to better efficiency. The motivation method used at universities to date turns out to be ineffective; therefore, following the positive thinking idea formulated by Martin Seligman, I propose to apply a synthesis of strategic paradoxes observed in universities and use the results to counteract the noticeable distress of academic communities and replace it with positive thinking, consisting of the aspiration to discover and understand phenomena, the sense of belonging to the academic community and building positive relationships with that community. Such an approach is in agreement with the “philosophy” proposing to replace the dictatorial (“tyranny of OR” (either ‘a’ or ‘b’, but not both at the same time with the “genius of the OR” (both ‘a’ and ‘b’), applied by visionary organizations, such as universities should strive to become. Limitations: Conservative views and resistance to change of academic circles hamper research but the openness of the management of (some) universities may break down that resistance. conclusions from analyses require empirical verification.