Paradoxical View Research Articles

Latter-Day Saint Roots in the American Forest: Joseph Smith’s Restoration Visions in Their Environmental Context

On 6 April 1830 Joseph Smith Jr. legally established what he claimed to be the restored Church of Jesus Christ that had existed previously during the New Testament times. This bold claim was bolstered by stories of angelic visitations in the hemlock–northern hardwood forest of New York and Pennsylvania by biblical and nonbiblical figures alike. In one of Smith’s supernatural encounters he claims that immediately prior to his theophany the Devil tried to intercede and prevent his communion with God. Thus, Smith and his followers have embraced a complex worldview concerning the nineteenth-century American forest, host to both the Divine and the Devil. The nineteenth-century American forest was complicated by its dangerous elements, its economic opportunities, and the sublime quality popularized in landscape paintings. Forests existed as environments that were equal in their ability to leave one desolate, well-provisioned, or inspired. Navigating these sometimes paradoxical views, Joseph Smith’s stories of otherworldly visitations in forest settings have resonated with many people seeking understanding in a confusing world. The founding story of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and artistic depictions thereof demonstrate an evolving view of the American forest. The American forest is a malleable, liminal space in which Latter-day Saints have continually combined elements of faith and memory to create a unique faith tradition with roots in a transformative place in American society. This interdisciplinary paper examines the physical appearance of the hemlock–northern hardwood forest, the socioeconomic climate, shifting sentimental values, and the philosophical ideas popularized by transcendentalists and the Hudson River School of painters that provided the scaffolding for this resilient religious movement’s origin story.

A tridimensional view of the Hispanic Health Paradox: Its relationship with faith, the enclave theory, and familism

This paper examines the "Hispanic (American) Health Paradox," the juxtaposition of Hispanics’ longer lifespan than the average American amid numerous inequities regarding social determinants of health. Hispanic Americans endure multiple health disparities with a higher incidence and prevalence of chronic conditions. They also experience multiple psychosocial and physical health challenges, including higher rates of food insecurity, poverty, segregation, discrimination, and limited or no access to medical care. Nevertheless, Hispanics enjoy better physical well-being and lower mortality rates when compared to non-Hispanics in the United States (Ruiz et al., 2021). This project aims to analyze the sources of this group’s biosocial advantages and resilience, allowing them to have a longer lifespan amidst their lower health status and increased risk for chronic conditions. It explores the political and social justice implications of these inequities. It also examines the strategies to close the gap on Latinos' current health care disparities via public policy aspects of federal and state legislature. A narrative review method was utilized to examine the existing literature on this paradoxical effect. Keywords based on Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) used to search resources for relevant studies included: Hispanic health paradox (health paradox, immigrant paradox), ethnic minorities (Latinos, LatinX), health disparities (disproportionate health, health inequities), social justice (healthcare stakeholders, health inequities solutions, inequities recommendations), mental health, physical health, and co-morbidities. A quality assessment of full-text peer-reviewed articles yielded 80 articles to compile this narrative review. The research revealed that, despite glaring disparities in social determinants of health, Hispanic Americans have overall experienced better health outcomes through a culture that emphasizes spirituality, community support, and strong family ties.

Paraxis on Geography Education in Nepal

This paper attempts to analyze the paradoxical view on geography education in Nepal. Praxis interplays the relationships between theory and practice-reflection in action in any academic discipline, like geography education. Geography education demonstrates the strategic linkages of content and pedagogy in teaching and research activities. Even now, geography occupies an important place not only in schools but also in university curricula. However, the easier it is to define geography, the harder it is to define geography education. Butt (2011) includes both parameters of geography (as a discipline) and education (as an activity) in the definition of geography education. This paper fulfills the objectives through systematic reviews of appropriate literature related to geography education. For this purpose, 50 documents were searched from different sources, such as Google, abstracts, keywords, and books. Only 15 papers and books were selected that gave pace to theories, methods, and pedagogical practices in geography education. The findings of this paper show that the definition of geography education is limited only to teaching geography in schools and colleges. In addition, teaching requires content knowledge (subject matters) related to geographic concepts, themes, traditions, tools and techniques, and contemporary issues related to climate change, environmental degradation, disasters, etc., in the curriculum. Pedagogical knowledge is also equally essential to deliver that content effectively to learners. Thus, geography provides the basis for choosing what content to teach at a particular level and, geography education helps to select teaching methods. It shows that the first is focused on the content and the second on pedagogy.

The paradox of the peasantry in management and organization studies

PurposeBurrell (2020) challenged management and organization studies (MOS) scholars to pay attention to a topic they have mostly ignored: the peasantry, those 2 billion people that work in the rural primary sector. This paper aims to address the topic to expand Burrell’s challenge by indicating that the peasantry offers a unique context to study a paradoxical condition: the coexistence of persistent poverty and vanguardist innovation.Design/methodology/approachThe authors advance conceptual arguments that complement the reasons why researchers should pay more attention to the peasantry. They argue that continuation of past research into field laborers, transitioning from feudalism to industrial capitalism, still has currency, not just because of the good reasons listed by Burrell (enduring relevance of the phenomenon in developing countries; sustainability concerns; acknowledgment of common heritage) but also because some seemingly archaic practices are evident in the economically developed countries where most management and organizations scholars live.FindingsThe authors show that in advanced economies, the peasantry has not disappeared, and it is manifested in contradictory forms, as positive force contributing to sustainable productivity (in the case of digitized agriculture) and as a negative legacy of social inequality and exploitation (as a form of modern slavery).Originality/valueThe authors discuss contrasting themes confronting management of the peasantry, namely, modern slavery and digital farming, and propose that a paradox view may help overcome unnecessary dualisms, which may promote social exclusion rather than integrated development.

Balancing Prediction and Surprise: A Role for Active Sleep at the Dawn of Consciousness?

The brain is a prediction machine. Yet the world is never entirely predictable, for any animal. Unexpected events are surprising, and this typically evokes prediction error signatures in mammalian brains. In humans such mismatched expectations are often associated with an emotional response as well, and emotional dysregulation can lead to cognitive disorders such as depression or schizophrenia. Emotional responses are understood to be important for memory consolidation, suggesting that positive or negative ‘valence’ cues more generally constitute an ancient mechanism designed to potently refine and generalize internal models of the world and thereby minimize prediction errors. On the other hand, abolishing error detection and surprise entirely (as could happen by generalization or habituation) is probably maladaptive, as this might undermine the very mechanism that brains use to become better prediction machines. This paradoxical view of brain function as an ongoing balance between prediction and surprise suggests a compelling approach to study and understand the evolution of consciousness in animals. In particular, this view may provide insight into the function and evolution of ‘active’ sleep. Here, we propose that active sleep – when animals are behaviorally asleep but their brain seems awake – is widespread beyond mammals and birds, and may have evolved as a mechanism for optimizing predictive processing in motile creatures confronted with constantly changing environments. To explore our hypothesis, we progress from humans to invertebrates, investigating how a potential role for rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in emotional regulation in humans could be re-examined as a conserved sleep function that co-evolved alongside selective attention to maintain an adaptive balance between prediction and surprise. This view of active sleep has some interesting implications for the evolution of subjective awareness and consciousness in animals.

Review: American While Black: African Americans, Immigration, and the Limits of Citizenship, by Niambi M. Carter

Review: <i>American While Black: African Americans, Immigration, and the Limits of Citizenship</i>, by Niambi M. Carter

Sports media professionals reflect on racial stereotypes and ethnic diversity in the organization

PurposeThe aim of this article is to examine how professionals within Dutch sports media give meaning to racial/ethnic diversity in the organization and reflect on the use of racial stereotypes in sports reporting.Design/methodology/approachTen in-depth interviews with Dutch sports media professionals have been conducted to obtain the data. Respondents had a variety of responsibilities within different media organizations in the Netherlands. The authors used thematic analysis supplemented with insights from critical discourse analysis to examine how sports media professionals give meaning to racial/ethnic diversity and the use of racial/ethnic stereotypes.FindingsThe following main themes emerged from the analysis of the interviews: (1) routines within the production process, (2) reflections on lack of diversity on the work floor and (3) racial/ethnic stereotyping not seen as an issue. Generally, journalists showed paradoxical views on the issue of racial/ethnic diversity within sport media production dismissing it as a non-issue on the one hand while also acknowledging there is a lack of racial diversity within sport media organizations. Results will be placed and discussed in a wider societal and theoretical perspective.Originality/valueBy focussing on the under-researched social group of sport media professionals in relation to meanings given to race and ethnicity in the production process, this research provides new insights into the role of sports media organizations in (re)producing discourses surrounding race/ethnicity in multi-ethnic society and the operation of whiteness in sports media.

Good or Bad? The Ambivalent Leader-Follower Relationships.

Researchers have emphasized the positive and negative influences of ambivalent leader-follower relationships, but it is not clear when the ambivalent relationship is associated with good or bad influences. To answer this question, we reviewed the definition and identified 10 different types of ambivalent leader-follower relationships. Further, we demonstrate that the negative outcomes (more inflexibility, disengagement, and worse performance) can be explained by the workplace stressor perspective, and that the positive outcomes (more flexibility, engagement, and better performance) can be explained by paradox view. Finally, drawing from conservation of resources (COR) theory, we integrate workplace stressor framework and the paradox view to address when the ambivalent leader-follower relationship is beneficial or detrimental for followers. We proposed that the degree of ambivalence, support from the third party, and integrative complexity of follower will influence the possible positive or negative influences. Limitations and future directions were also discussed.

Exploring the Coevolution of Traditional and Sustainable Business Models: A Paradox Perspective

Abstract Purpose: This paper rectifies a dearth in current research and investigates the coevolution of traditional and sustainable business models under one corporate roof. By taking on a paradox perspective, firms’ solutions, and mechanisms to cope with the paradoxical tensions that arise throughout the coevolution are determined and analyzed. Design/Methodology/Implications: This is executed by conducting seven case studies of Western-European firms, consulting firms, and governmentally-owned consulting institutions. Findings: Findings display the array of responses firms deploy to address paradoxical areas of competing demands of economic, social, and environmental foci, organizational culture and mindset, training and staffing, resource allocation, and the stakeholder environment during the coevolution of traditional and sustainable business models.Furthermore, four coping strategies firms utilize are derived from the data, namely splitters, operational perfectionists, strategic mandators, and transformers. Research limitations: All cases under investigation resemble Western-European firms, which limits the generalizability of the findings at hand. Furthermore, the sample size and the mixed industries cases have been selected from stipulate a limitation. Practical implications: This paper outlines four pathways firms deploy to address paradoxical tensions arising during the coevolution of traditional and sustainable business models under one corporate roof. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the discussion related to the integration of traditional and sustainable business model research, as it sheds light onto a previously largely unresearched phenomenon: a situation where both business models coevolve under one corporate roof. Utilizing the paradox view as a theoretical lens, underlying dynamics and arrays of solutions are uncovered

Viagens aos Infernos: a experiência visionária como ensaio para uma filosofia pré e pós humanista

Por que a experiência visionária perturba a filosofia (crítica)? Experimentando uma anarqueologia como procedimento de leitura, argumento que a relação entre filosofia e magia no curso da história ocidental pode ser encenada como uma peça paradoxal. Da mesma maneira que a filosofia racionalista conjura a magia, simultaneamente, tais saberes estiveram presentes de modo polifônico nos bastidores da encenação ilustrada. Para conjurar o demônio é necessário antes evocá-lo. Evoco, assim, o itinerário das viagens aos infernos ao qual certa visão xamanística de alma grega fecunda possibilidades para ensaiarmos um tipo de filosofia pré e pós crítica, onde a experiência visionária aparece posteriormente como pedra no sapato ao pensamento ilustrado, científico e humano. Exemplifico tal questão recorrendo à visão paradoxal de Immanuel Kant quando analisa as experiências visionárias de Emmanuel Swedenborg. Ao reconhecer contemporaneamente a nossa herança legítima como filhos da razão, será preciso reencarnar o lugar bastardo dos sonhos e da mediunidade exorcizada.

Social Media and Modernist Authority: The Hauntology of Facebook

Highly biographical Modernist author profiles on Facebook seem to adopt or encourage a purely biographical, Genius Cult-esque understanding of the relationship between an author and that author's work. This is initially problematic, as authorial intent is a particularly complex issue of consideration for many of the authors currently haunting Facebook. This article thus establishes the paradoxical view on author-ity of three such authors -- T. S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, and James Joyce -- and examines how such Facebook profiles undermine and simplify the arguments made by these authors both through their critical and creative works. It then suggests that, by mere nature of being present on Facebook, these profiles may indeed engage in teasing out the very same paradox that these Modernists proposed in the first place, using Derrida's Hauntology to examine Facebook as a textual space both of biography and self-prosthesis. The argument ultimately seeks to propose that all Facebook users are indeed just such spectres haunting digital spaces.

Paradoxical nature of dynamic capabilities research: a content analysis of literature

PurposeThe purpose of the current study is to identify the nature, scope and locus of and to systematize, the conceptual contradictions existing in dynamic capabilities research.Design/methodology/approachThis paper employs a content analysis literature review of 86 papers on dynamic capabilities published between 1997 and 2019, using two databases – EBSCO and Web of Science/Knowledge databases. To structure the review, Smith and Lewis's (2011) categorization of organizational tensions is adopted.FindingsFirst, the findings of this study suggest that DCs not only are shaped by a tension between efficiency and flexibility but also are built upon a large number of contradictory aspects, represented by organizing, performing, belonging and learning paradoxes. Second, the analysis identifies defensive and active responses to these tensions, with the former prevailing in the dynamic capabilities view literature. Both kinds of responses may facilitate or hinder organizational change. Third, it was found that while the literature has focused predominantly on organizing and learning paradoxes, the linkage between these categories remains under-researched.Originality/valueThis study makes three contributions. First, it identifies the scope (i.e. number), locus (analytical level) and nature (paradox categories and sub-categories) of DC-related paradoxes and responses to paradoxical tensions. Second, it shows that the nature and locus of conceptual contradictions are more complex than conceptualized in prior studies, going beyond the contingency and ambidexterity argument of how to deal with DC-related paradoxes. Third, it seeks to extend Di Stefano et al.'s (2014) proposition of integrating paradoxical views on different DC-related aspects. The idea of “audio console” introduced in this study highlights the interrelation of paradoxes between the categories and across analytical levels.

Confucian business model canvas in the Asia Pacific: a Yin-Yang harmony cognition to value creation and innovation

ABSTRACT From an integrative view of paradox and culture, this research aims to elucidate the impact of cultural heterogeneity on the compositional structure of business models (BMs) in the Asia Pacific by focusing on the core BM content about the mechanisms of value creation and innovation. After a systematic review addressing the knowledge void, we refine the widely accepted, renowned model of a BM canvas to propose a new, indigenous Confucian BM canvas using the Yin-Yang harmony cognition as the underlying rationale for identifying the peculiar, innovative value-creating patterns of BMs in Confucian Asia. Our canvas encompasses three new building blocks: Social Legitimacy, Institutional Enabler, Institutional Disabler, that reflects the idiosyncratic Confucian cultural values and, thereby, can serve as a vital strategic map. Based on the insights distilled from this new canvas, we further suggest a novel ‘networked synergistic mode of innovation for value creation’ with an example of the electric motor industry in the Asia Pacific region. Theoretical, practical and policy implications are also discussed.

Star Inventors and Firm Innovation Trajectory

Scholars have presented conflicting perspectives regarding whether star inventors have a positive or negative effect on firms’ innovation trajectory (i.e., exploratory or exploitative). The objective of this study is to shed light on this important, yet under-theorized, issue in the context of R&D teams. Because stars are at the forefront of knowledge exchange with external parties, we argue that the boundary-spanning ties that stars establish with external parties provide distant learning opportunities conducive to an R&D team’s exploratory innovation. However, the positive effect of these ties on team exploration may be undermined, or even flipped, by firm institutions that revolve around stars and the double-edged role of stars’ high productivity. Applying multilevel modeling to a sample of 88,835 R&D teams in the U.S. high-technology sector, we find support for our hypotheses. This paper contributes to the literatures on stars and innovation by presenting a paradoxical view of stars’ effect on firm innovation and examining the mechanisms underlying firms’ innovation trajectory through a micro-lens.

A paradoxical view of speed and quality on operational outcome: An empirical investigation of innovation in high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises

Recently, there has been increasing attention on the speed versus quality paradox in operations and innovation management literature. This study examines the innovation speed-quality paradox on operational performance in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from high-tech industries. Specifically, we seek to understand how R&D investment with organizational risk influences the innovation speed-quality paradox and how this paradox further influences a firm's operational performance. Based on a panel data of 247 firms (1782 firm-year observations), the empirical results show that R&D investment positively affects innovation speed and quality, and organizational risk positively moderates the relationship between R&D investment and innovation quality. Also, both the innovation speed and quality are positively related to firm's operational performance, while the interaction of speed and quality is negatively related to firm's operational performance. The theoretical and practical implications of our research are also discussed.

A loose coupling perspective on Ancient Egypt economy and society

A large body of literature assumes that Ancient Egypt’s economy and society were tightly and hierarchically coupled. However, a detailed understanding of complexity in Ancient Egypt eludes us. Widening the scope of business History towards ancient eras, this article intends to showcase a paradoxical view; using Orton and Weick’s reconceptualization of loose coupling theory, we aim to nuance the traditional view of Ancient Egypt’s economy by providing examples of its looseness. Our study examines detailed accounts of the causes of loose coupling, direct effects and compensations, and the outcomes of loose coupling in Ancient Egypt.

ECEC teachers’ paradoxical views on the new Chilean System for Teacher Professional Development

ABSTRACT This article presents the main findings of a mixed-method study that explored ECEC teachers’ views on the recently enacted STPD for Teacher Professional Development (STPD) in Chile. Relying on a mixed-method design, we gathered data from individual and group interviews and an online survey conducted with 268 ECEC teachers. Drawn from both a priori and emergent categories, our findings reveal that participants held four paradoxical views on the new System: salary justice versus monetizing of the profession; professional teaching recognition versus counter-pedagogical identity, rigorous evaluation versus inappropiate evaluation instruments, and palpable individual career advancement versus doubtful field development. These paradoxes show that ECEC teachers have a positive global view of the new STPD, despite their perception of its individualistic and counter-ECEC pedagogical nature, suggesting a claim for their right to professional development and decent working conditions, as well as a criticism of the STPD’s neoliberal foundation.

‘역설’ 관점에서 본 조선시대 여성의 한글(훈민정음) 사용과 의미

이 논문은 ‘역설’ 관점에서 본 조선시대 여성의 한글(훈민정음) 사용과 의미를 살펴본 것이다. 곧 조선시대에 중국 한자에 비해 비주류 문자였던 한글이 남성 양반 계층에 비해 비주류였던 여성 계층에 의해 오히려 발전 한 것을 역설적 상황으로 보았다. 이러한 관점에서 보면 왕실 여성들이 발행한 한글 공문서는 역설적 상 황이 오히려 자연스런 권력으로 작용한 것이었고, 여성의 한글 상소문은 역설을 통한 한문 공문서의 틀을 균열낸 것이었다. 여성들의 한글 편지 쓰기는 역설의 생활화이고 한글소설과 같은 문학을 여성들이 적극적으로 생활 속에서 유통한 것은 역설을 오히려 즐긴 것이었다. 여성들이 펴낸 한글 요리책과 같은 실용서는 역설을 통한 지식의 승리를 의미한다. 이러한 다섯 가지 측면에서 여성들의 한글 사용은 절대적인 남성 중심 의 한자 권력에서 한글이 살아남아 발전할 수 있는 실질적인 힘이 되었다.

Культурология как специальность, привычка и стиль жизни

Culturology: is this a science or a lifestyle, a phenomenology or a discourse? The author of this article takes a role of a distant observer and considers cultural studies as an intellectual process with its own features, tasks and a range of issues. The author shares the paradoxical view of V. M. Rosin who realized the meaning of this science after writing a book on this discipline. The article focuses on the main aspects of cultural studies and the scope of capabilities of cultural scientists. The article explains the selection of materials and texts that distinguish a culturologist from literary critics, historians, journalists, and other liberal arts professionals who deal with cultural phenomena. The article also explains the methodology used in the study and sets out the framework for cultural studies. The analysis of the “Vologda text” allowed to identify the structure of the description of a provincial cultural landscape. The article focuses on some potential cultural projects as well as the brands officially used as a marker of the Vologda region, such as “The Russian North’s Soul”, the homeland of the Father Frost, Vologda’s butter and lace. Special attention is given to the personalistic view on the culturologist as a reflecting, responsive and creative actor. The city is presented as a set of persons and their fates, contemporary and past myths, real stories and their interpretations. Thus, we see the most important principles for the researchers of the “modern age of outcomes”, i. e. attention to the figures and the background, the text and the context. In practice, culturologists implement these principals through the use of Internet and blogging. The author insists that today, in the age of concise and pithy texts, the top priority of a culturologist is to analyze cultural projects and respond to the challenges of our time. This is the only way one can become a true culturologist. The article focuses on those who teach the basics of cultural studies and face the challenge of explaining a range of issues in cultural studies as an educational subject to those who are making their first steps in this field.

Relationship between paradoxical leadership and team performance: A serial mediation effect of perceived inclusion and team creativity

조직 환경의 급격한 변화 및 생존을 위한 경쟁 심화는 역설적 관점의 필요성을 부각시킨다. 조직 내 모호하고 복잡한 상황을 관리하기 위해서는 하나의 일관된 방식만을 실행하는 단편적인 사고보다 역설적으로 사고하고 행동하는 역설적 리더십 행동이 요구된다. 이러한 역설적 관점은 서로 다른 배경과 가치관, 정보를 가진 인적자원의 다양성 관리에도 효과적이다. 다양성을 포용하는 조직은 서로 상충될 수 있는 조직 구성원의 소속 욕구와 차별화 욕구를 모두 충족시킬 수 있어야 한다. 역설적 리더십은 모순적 요구에 유연하게 대응할 수 있다는 점에서 조직 내 포용 인식을 높일 수 있을 것으로 기대된다. 하지만 역설적 리더십과 팀 구성원의 포용 인식의 관계, 또 역설적 리더십이 팀 성과에 어떤 경로를 통해 어떻게 영향을 미치는지 구체적으로 확인한 연구는 부족한 실정이다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 역설적 리더십이 팀 구성원의 포용 인식에 미치는 영향을 살펴보고, 포용 인식이 팀 창의성을 높여 결과적으로 팀 성과를 향상시키는 연속매개과정을 검증하고자 하였다. 이를 위해 본 연구에서는 공공조직에 근무하는 총 431명, 85팀의 설문을 수집하여 데이터 분석을 실시하였다. SPSS 통계프로그램과 Process macro를 활용하여 회귀분석 및 Bootstrapping기법을 통해 검증한 결과 역설적 리더십은 팀 성과에 긍정적인 영향을 미치며, 이 과정을 팀 구성원들의 포용인식과 팀 창의성이 연속매개 하는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구는 다양한 딜레마를 다루어야 하는 조직 환경에서 역설적 리더십의 중요성 및 포용 인식의 역할을 팀 수준에서 검증하였다는 데 의의가 있다. 즉, 팀 창의성과 팀 성과를 높이기 위해서는 역설적 관점을 지닌 리더와, 팀 구성원들의 포용 인식이 중요하다는 시사점을 제공한다.Increased competitions and rapid changes in business environments highlight the need for a paradoxical view. In order to manage ambiguous and complex situations within an organization, leaders should be able to deal with conflicting demands and contradictory values effectively, which can be described as paradoxical leadership. Similarly, as the value of diversity in the workforce is being appreciated, inclusion is often discussed as a key success factor for effective diversity management. Inclusive workplace allows its members to satisfy two seemingly conflicting needs, desire to belong and desire to be unique. Both paradoxical leadership and inclusion address the importance of balancing conflicting needs and competing goals. Yet few studies have specifically examined the relationship between paradoxical leadership, perceived inclusion, and team outcomes. In this study, we examined the effect of paradoxical leadership on perceived inclusion by team members and tested a serial mediation process in which perceived inclusion enhances team creativity, thereby improving team performance. To test our model, we analyzed survey data from a total of 431 people (85 teams) working in public organizations. Using bootstrapping method via SPSS Process Macro, we demonstrated that paradoxical leadership has a positive effect on team performance, and this process is serially mediated by team members perception of inclusion and team creativity. This study contributes to the current literature by examining the role of paradoxical leadership and perceived inclusion at the team level. Our findings provide practical implications that a leader with a paradoxical perspective and team members’ perception of inclusion are key factors for team creativity and performance.