Toward understanding three phases of individual responses to paradox
ISSN: 1746-5265
Article publication date: 7 September 2021
Issue publication date: 3 January 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to further paradox research at the individual level through applying a framework of three phases of individual response to paradox – recognition, understanding and behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
Critical and integrative review of previous studies of individual responses to paradox.
Findings
The role of individual understanding is limited in extant research on individual responses to paradox. Individual understanding tends to be equated with behaviour, and thus knowledge of understanding is not differentiated enough, neither is the link between understanding and behaviour sufficiently developed.
Research limitations/implications
The review does not consider the relationship to interactional, organisational and environmental contexts. The recommendation for future research is to explore individual responses to paradox more entirely, to provide an adequate ground for extending paradox theory across individual and broader levels of analysis.
Originality/value
The review contributes to paradox theory by separating individual understanding and then providing a framework in which recognition, understanding and behaviour can be reintegrated in new ways. In addition to more accurate discernment of individual understanding and of combinations of responses across phases, the three-phase framework facilitates investigation of more intricate influences across phases and paths of evolution of such responses over time.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author would like to express his gratitude to the editor Ruta Kazlauskaite and the three anonymous reviewers for constructive comments in developing this article. He also wants to thank all others that have commented on earlier versions.
Citation
Birkelund, G. (2022), "Toward understanding three phases of individual responses to paradox", Baltic Journal of Management, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 18-33. https://doi.org/10.1108/BJM-05-2021-0178
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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