Solutions to Organizational Paradox: A Philosophical Perspective

Organizations face all kinds of paradoxical problems. There exist various solutions to organizational paradoxes. We develop a typology that lists nine possible logical approaches to understanding the relationship between paradoxical opposites, out of which we identify five types of solutions to organizational paradox. Four of the five solutions are explicitly associated with four prominent philosophies. We show the relevance of the five solutions to the real world by applying our scheme to understand different solutions to the generic strategy paradox. Finally, we address the question whether there is a superior solution and point out the paradox of paradox resolving, namely, paradoxes cannot be resolved once for all and we have to live with them.