Browsing by Author "Clegg, Stewart R."
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- A figure is worth a thousand words: the role of visualization in paradox theorizingPublication . Pradies, Camille; Berti, Marco; Cunha, Miguel Pina e; Rego, Arménio; Tunarosa, Andrea; Clegg, Stewart R.Visualization (i.e., the use of figures and images to represent findings and conceptual models) is central to theorizing. Yet, by focusing solely on the textual content of papers, analysis has inadvertently marginalized the graphic representations of key ideas. We review the paradox literature not just in terms of what authors have written but also how they have visualized models concisely. An analysis of figures in paradox articles captures the essential role that visuals play in our understanding of competing tensions, leveraging the power of imagery. We explore paradox visually, searching for the figurative materialization of paradox; more particularly, we seek visual signs that render abstract ideas more saliently and concretely. We contribute to paradox theory in three ways. First, we show how visuals constitute the lynchpin between convergent and divergent forces, allowing scholars to simultaneously reinforce and challenge current understanding. Second, we offer a tool for scholars to theorize competing demands based on three key antinomies, or dualities, that define the terrain of research in our field. Third, we reveal the performative effect of figures by identifying the ongoing dominance of certain classes of paradox visuals, which allows us to point to uncharted territories for paradox research.
- Fully embracing the paradoxical condition: Banksy to organization theoryPublication . Cunha, Miguel Pina e; Clegg, Stewart R.; Berti, Marco; Rego, Arménio; Simpson, Ace
- Open purpose: embrace organizations as expressive systemsPublication . Clegg, Stewart R.; Cunha, Miguel Pina e; Rego, Arménio; Santos, FilipeThe concept of purpose gained prominence in organization theory in recent years but there are discrepant views of its meaning, which we review as evolving and different perspectives: economic theories of the firm; stakeholder approaches; integrative social contracts; and social mission. We elaborate these perspectives in terms of the ebb and flow of ideas and eras. Against these instrumental views, we revisit the work of Robert Cooper, namely the ever-open purpose of expressive organizations, and contrast this with fixist views of purpose in instrumental organizations. We engage with the logic of open purpose and sketch a way of rethinking purpose as a general orientation that constantly evolves and changes over time in interaction with its ecosystem.
- Speak! paradoxical effects of a managerial culture of ‘speaking up’Publication . Cunha, Miguel Pina e; Simpson, Ace Volkmann; Clegg, Stewart R.; Rego, ArménioWe explore the intrinsic ambiguity of speaking up in a multinational healthcare subsidiary A culture change initiative, emphasizing learning and agility through encouraging employees to speak up, gave rise to paradoxical effects. Some employees interpreted a managerial tool for improving effectiveness as an invitation to raise challenging points of difference rather than as something ‘beneficial for the organization’.We show that the process of introducing a culture that aims to encourage employees to speak up can produce tensions and contradictions that make various types of organizational paradoxes salient Telling people to ‘speak up!’ may render paradoxical tensions salient and even foster a sense of low PsySafe.
- Tackling sustainable development goals through new spacePublication . Clegg, Stewart R.; Cunha, Miguel Pina e; Lopez, Aníbal; Sirage, Emir; Rego, ArménioAchieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) constitutes a formidable challenge. Existing solutions may be insufficient to respond to the scale and scope of the endeavour. The 17 SDGs are not discrete but interconnected, sustained by 169 targets. Their cross-level effects require the adoption of a panarchical view of data. New Space projects, still unfamiliar to many managers and organizations, provide such data related to grand challenges capable of addressing the paradoxes that arise from the interaction of a system of systems of multiple scales of spatiality, temporality and social organization. To address these requires project managing developing capabilities that can connect everyday interventions in terrestrial economy and society with high level data findings from Geospatial Information Systems. We contribute to the SDG debate through the articulation of three streams of literature that may radically revise the way wicked problems are addressed: panarchy, paradox, and New Space.
- The paradox of the peasantry in management and organization studiesPublication . Cunha, Miguel Pina e; Clegg, Stewart R.; Rego, Arménio; Berti, MarcoPurpose – Burrell (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. We 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. Approach – We advance conceptual arguments that complement the reasons why researchers should pay more attention to the peasantry. We 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. Findings – We show that in advanced economies the peasantry has not disappeared, and it is manifest 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 form of modern slavery) Originality – We 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. Keywords: Peasantry, Modern slavery, Digitized agriculture, Management and farming, New space industry.
- Theorizing compassionate leadership from the case of Jacinda Ardern: legitimacy, paradox and resource conservationPublication . Simpson, Ace Volkmann; Rego, Arménio; Berti, Marco; Clegg, Stewart R.; Cunha, Miguel Pina eDuring times of suffering such as that inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic, compassion expressed by leaders helps to ease distress. Doing so, those in a position to provide resources that might facilitate coping and recovery are attentive to the situations of distress. Despite an abundance of leadership theorizing and models, there still is little academic literature on compassionate leadership. To address this limitation, we present an exploratory case study of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, someone widely recognized for her compassionate leadership and frequently described in paradoxical terms (e.g. ‘kind and strong’; embodying ‘steel and compassion’). We address her compassionate leadership through the lenses of paradox theory, legitimacy theory and conservation of resources theory. We contribute a heuristic framework that sees various types of legitimacy leveraged synergistically to build resources and alleviate suffering – providing further legitimacy in an upward spiral of compassionate leadership.