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Early paradox research in organization theory contained a remarkable breadth of inspirations from outside disciplines. We wanted to know more about where early scholarship found inspiration to create what has since become paradox theory. To shed light on this, we engaged seminal paradox scholars in conversations: asking about their past experiences drawing from outside disciplines and their views on the future of paradox theory. These conversations surfaced several themes of past and future inspirations: (1) understanding complex phenomena; (2) drawing from related disciplines; (3) combining interdisciplinary insights; and (4) bridging discourses in organization theory. We end the piece with suggestions for future paradox research inspired by these conversations.

This paper comments on “Global implications of the indigenous epistemological system from the east” (Li, 2016), which provides an indigenous Chinese perspective on organizational paradox. Li introduces Yin-Yang balancing as an epistemological system that can help scholars examine and practitioners manage paradoxes. In this commentary, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the merits of Yin-Yang balancing and how this approach and other indigenous theories might enrich organizational paradox theory.

The authors provide a commentary and suggestions for future research. The authors distinguish between Yin-Yang balancing as a normative theory, a meta-theory and a lay theory. The authors encourage both geocentrism and polycentrism as goals for future paradox research, enabling attention to the diversity of ideas across and within varied cultures.

The commentary connects Yin-Ying balancing with extant research on organizational paradox.

This study aims to propose a multi-level (bottom-up) analysis to build an organizational change capability (OCC) development model by integrating paradox and social cognitive theories. Using these theories, OCC (Level 2) is influenced by the leader’s paradox mindset (Level 1) and collective PsyCap (Level 2). The study also examined the moderating effect of magnitude to change on the effect of leader’s paradox mindset on OCC.

The proposed hypotheses were tested empirically using data from 327 respondents and 48 work teams from 21 leading private higher education institutions in Indonesia. To analyze the data, a multi-level analysis was conducted with Mplus software.

The results showed that, in a cross-level relationship, leader’s paradox mindset had a positive effect on OCC, whereas OCC mediated the effect of leader’s paradox mindset on organizational change performance. On an organizational level, collective PsyCap affected OCC, and OCC significantly mediated the relationship between collective PsyCap and organizational change performance. Moreover, the authors found a moderating effect of magnitude on change of leader’s paradox mindset to OCC.

This study used a multi-level analysis to evaluate the mechanisms of influence of leader’s paradox mindset (bottom-up) on OCC and the moderation effect of magnitude to change in an Indonesian context.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of digital government innovation on transformational government. Digital government innovation is ordinarily implemented as means for the creation of public value. However, realisation of benefits from the digital government platforms has proved to be a challenge, and great discrepancy has been observed in the extent of public value generated, pointing to lack of innovativeness in resource-constrained environments. This research investigates the influence of digital government ambidexterity as an innovation strategy in enhancing transformational government (T-Gov). The authors develop hypotheses relating to digital government ambidexterity with two factors of innovation for enhancing T-Gov: exploitation incremental digital innovation and exploration radical digital innovation.

The hypotheses are tested using a sample size of 690 citizens interacting through digital government platforms. The authors identify exploitation incremental digital innovation and exploration radical digital innovation as factors, and how these factors of digital government ambidexterity influence information quality for public value creation. The success of T-Gov is associated to the implementation of digital government policy which moderate the relationship between digital government ambidexterity and information quality.

The empirical outcomes suggest that exploitation incremental digital innovation and exploration radical digital innovation positively influence information quality, thereby leading to public value, and this result become successful if there is implementation of digital government policy. Treating the two factors of digital government innovation as complementary leads to public value creation.

Limited time and funds to conduct a country comparative study. The study only focused on urban municipalities, of which it would be interesting to explore rural municipalities.

Adoption of MunINFORQUAL model for promoting digital government platform utilisation by citizens.

The utilisation of digital government platforms would improve citizens’ lives in a number of ways. For instance, citizen municipal interaction for service delivery and social benefits through instant notifications of developmental projects.

This paper contributes to the research literature on digital government innovation particularly from resource-constrained environments. Also, the study provides new empirical test using a data set of 690 citizens interacting through digital government platforms.

Guided by paradox theory, the study aims to significantly advance Sustainability in Higher Education Institutions (SHEI) scholarship and inform change agents’ (CAs) practices by uncovering the tensions underlying the challenges CAs face in embedding sustainability in their universities and learning about potential strategies to manage these tensions.

The authors conducted a multi-step, mix-methods study including interviews (n = 15), an online survey (n = 36) and focus groups (n = 29) with CAs from 17 of Austria’s 22 public universities. Participating CAs consisted of faculty, staff and administrators with leading roles in their Higher Education Institutions’ sustainability change processes.

Austrian SHEI CAs’ responses revealed 15 tensions at and between the individual, organizational and system level addressing academic, organizational and external stakeholder engagement aspects. Six tensions were selected for more in-depth exploration including elaboration of management strategies, building on CAs’ experiences. Results revealed examples of acceptance, separation and synthesis strategies.

Based on the exploratory nature of our study, the authors do not claim to have identified a comprehensive list of tensions underlying the challenges faced by SHEI CAs, nor of all potential management strategies.

Although this study focused exclusively on Austrian SHEI CAs, the challenges they shared were consistent with those in the literature and, thus, insights should also support the CAs’ efforts in other countries.

This study offers novel perspectives on how to manage the challenges to SHEI. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first to describe paradox theory-informed management strategies recommended by a heterogenous group of SHEI CAs to address the barriers they face in transforming their universities toward sustainability.

Why is it that highly trained and seasoned executives fail? On the surface, this doesn’t make sense because they are very successful; yet research in the organization sciences provides no shortage of evidence to prove just that. From the classic Mann Gulch fire disaster of Weick’s famous collapse of sensemaking study, to studies of myopia of learning, escalation of commitment, threat-rigidity, dominant logic, the architecture of simplicity, the Icarus Paradox, to core competencies turning into core rigidities, and navigating new competitive markets using “old” cognitive maps, and many more such examples point to a ubiquitous phenomenon where highly trained and experienced professionals find themselves “stuck” in the heat of battle, unable to move and progress. On the one hand, for some, there is a desperate need for change, but are unable to do so, due to their trained incapacities. On the other hand, some simply cannot see the need for change, and continue with their “business as usual” mentality. For both, their visions of the world shrink, they have a tendency to cling onto their past habitual practices and oversimplify the complexity of the situation. In moments like these: DROP YOUR TOOLS and UNLEARN! This book chapter introduces a framework (grounded in clinical psychology) that has had consistent success in helping seasoned executives and key decision-makers open up the alternatives whenever they find themselves stuck with complexity.

A flexible manufacturing system (FMS) helps improve the system’s performance, thus increasing its overall competitiveness. FMS is an essential component of Industry 4.0 (I4.0), which has revolutionized the way firms manufacture their products. This study aims to investigate the diverse focus of the research being published over the years and the direction of scholarly work in applying FMSs in business and management.

A total of 1,096 bibliometric data were extracted from the Scopus database from the years 2001 to 2021. A systematic review and bibliometric analysis were performed on the data and related articles for performance measurement and scientific mapping on the FMS themes.

Based on co-keyword, the study reveals four major themes in the FMS field: mathematical models and quantitative techniques, scheduling and optimization techniques, cellular manufacturing and decision-making in FMSs. Based on bibliometric coupling on 2018–2021 bibliometric data, four themes emerged for future research: scheduling problems in FMS, manufacturing cell formation problem, interplay of FMS with other latest technologies and I4.0 and FMS.

The originality lies in answering the following research questions: What are the most highlighting themes in FMS, and how have they evolved over the past 20 years (2001–2021)? What topics have been at the forefront of research in FMS in the past five years (2016–2021)? What are the promising avenues of research in FMS?

This case study can be used in graduate- and executive-level.

This case study can be used in entrepreneurship, leadership, crisis management, business succession, organizational behaviour and business expansion.

In 2020, the EtonHouse International Education Group (EtonHouse) celebrated its 25th anniversary. Under the leadership of Ng Gim Choo, founder and managing director, EtonHouse has become a renowned education provider noted for its well-designed inquiry-based curriculum. Since its initial expansion in Singapore, the institution has spread across the world. Throughout its history, EtonHouse has faced many crises. However, employing paradoxical leadership, Ng Gim Choo has managed to accommodate conflicting demands and guide EtonHouse away from adversity. In early 2020, the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) posed an unprecedented challenge to EtonHouse. In addition to developing business strategies in response to COVID-19, Ng Gim Choo has been considering whether the time is ripe to hand over the reins to Ng Yi Xian, her son and EtonHouse successor.

By presenting the dilemma of business succession in crises, the case study facilitates in-depth discussion of several issues related to family business succession, succession planning and crisis management. Students will be able to explore the following issues: 1. The concept and implications of paradoxical leadership and its application in business decisions. 2. How to lead during crises. 3. The tension between succession plans and crisis management. 4. The characteristics and implications of woman entrepreneurship.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

The way organizational actors use language to think about and communicate their organizational experiences is central to how organizational actors enact organizational paradox. However, most inquiries into the role of language in the organizational paradox literature has focused on specific components of language (e.g., discourse), without attention to the complex, multi-level linguistic system that is interconnected to organizational processes. In this chapter, we expand our knowledge of the role of language by integrating paradox research with research from the linguistics discipline. We identify a series of linguistic tensions (i.e., generalizability-specificity, universalism-particularism, and explicitness-implicitness) that are nested within organizational paradoxes. In the process, we reveal how the organizing paradox of control and autonomy is interconnected to other paradoxes (i.e., performing, learning, and belonging) through the instantiation of linguistic paradoxes. We discuss the implications of our findings for research on paradox and language.