A Dialectical Analysis of Organizational Conflict

Lourenco, Susan V.; Glidewell, John C.

doi:10.2307/2392018

Cited by 57 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Some scholars have applied the logic of dialecticswhich is rooted in the idea of contradiction-to organizational studies (Benson 1977, Heydebrand 1977, Lourenco and Glidewell 1975, McGuire 1988, Zeitz 1980. According to the dialectical view, the world is a unity of opposites.…”

Section: Framework Of Internal Tensionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Instabilities of Strategic Alliances: An Internal Tensions Perspective

Das

Teng

2000

Organization Science

872

715

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The instabilities of strategic alliances have been examined in the literature through a number of theoretical approaches. Alliance instabilities refer to major changes or dissolutions of alliances that are unplanned from the perspective of one or more partners. Although the literature identifies certain characteristics of strategic alliances that may lead to their unplanned dissolution, the extent of our understanding of this subject appears to be fragmented and incomplete. In this article we propose a comprehensive framework for adequately understanding alliance instabilities based on the notion of internal tensions. We suggest that strategic alliances are sites in which conflicting forces develop and which can be viewed as being constituted by three key pairs of competing forces-namely, cooperation versus competition, rigidity versus flexibility, and short-term versus long-term orientation. This tensions framework helps us in explaining the intrinsic vulnerability of alliances in terms of a wide range of internal contradictions and enables us to examine, in an integrated manner, the incidence, dynamics, and eventual dissipation of the inherent instabilities. We discuss the interrelationships among the different internal tensions and their impacts on different types of strategic alliances. We also examine the termination of alliances through mergers/acquisitions and dissolution. Finally, we suggest ways to empirically test the various ideas and propositions developed here and indicate directions for further research.

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Section: Framework Of Internal Tensionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Instabilities of Strategic Alliances: An Internal Tensions Perspective

Das

Teng

2000

Organization Science

872

715

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Dialectical interpretations can help interpret organizational phenomena (Benson, ; Lourenco and Gildewell, ; Seo and Creed, ). Dialectical standpoints involve tensions, contestation, opposing forces tending toward negation, in turn being negated by higher‐order processes, often allowing preserved aspects of originally negated positions (Di Domenico, Tracey and Haugh ).…”

Section: Literature Framing the Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Multi‐level Dialectical–Paradox Lens for Top Management Team Strategic Decision‐Making in a Corporate Venture

Costanzo

Domenico

2014

British J of Management

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This paper aims to critique the process of corporate-owned, high-tech start-up strategizing through an inductive, longitudinal, case-study of 'UK-Research-Tech'. Insights are given through the combined 'dialectical-paradox' concept, thereby focusing on where 'dialectic' and 'paradox' theorising overlap. Our linked iterative, 'dialogical-dialectic' research approach also reflects CEO/TMT start-up dynamics over time. These foci fill important gaps that impede our better understanding of dialectical, dialogical and paradoxical forces within strategic decision-making. As an interpretative tool, they illuminate CEO/TMT strategizing and changing inter-relationships, affected by broader, volatile, techno-economic contexts, and parent-company influences on ventures. In this case-study, it was found that the CEO's relatively autocratic, parent-framed approach combined with TMT members' contradictory reactions to create 'dialectical-paradox' oppositional forces, eventually only resolved through 'eleventh hour' business strategy changes to rescue the venture. This research contributes to more nuanced understandings of corporate-constrained ventures during early business development from start-up strategic decisions at parent-company level to subsequent conditions of more independent dynamic equilibrium. The 'dialectical-paradox' conceptual lens contributes an innovative critique of processes affecting strategic decision-making dynamics. Another important contribution is the empirically-inspired conceptual model, developed for use both to guide subsequent case-study research analyses and as a reflective tool for CEO/TMT strategic decision-making, especially within corporate inspired start-ups.

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“…Its use in the modern world is usually attributed to Kant, but it is most commonly associated with the writings of Hegel and Marx. Dialectical theory has been interpreted in many different ways, but organizational scholars have tended to draw upon a Marxian interpretation of the dialectic (see, for example, Seo and Creed 2002;Benson 1977;Lourenco and Glidewell 1975) and this is the approach adopted in this paper. From this perspective, dialectics refer to social processes that involve aspects of 'conflict, paradox, [and] mutual interaction' (Zeitz 1980: 73).…”

Section: The Dialectic Of Social Exchangementioning

confidence: 99%

The Dialectic of Social Exchange: Theorizing Corporate—Social Enterprise Collaboration

Domenico

Tracey

Haugh

2009

Organization Studies

219

215

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We augment social exchange theory with dialectical theory to build a framework to examine corporate-social enterprise collaborations. These cross-sector collaborations represent a novel form of political-economic arrangement seeking to reconcile the efficient functioning of markets with the welfare of communities. We propose that corporate-social enterprise collaborations are shaped by (1) the value that each member of the collaboration attributes to their partner's inputs, (2) competing practices and priorities intrinsic to the corporation and the social enterprise, and (3) expected benefits of the collaboration to each partner. For a synthesized state of collaboration to emerge and the partnership to be sustained, we posit that the antithetical forces inherent within the relationship must be resolved.

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A Dialectical Analysis of Organizational Conflict

Cited by 57 publications

References 8 publications

Instabilities of Strategic Alliances: An Internal Tensions Perspective

Instabilities of Strategic Alliances: An Internal Tensions Perspective

A Multi‐level Dialectical–Paradox Lens for Top Management Team Strategic Decision‐Making in a Corporate Venture

The Dialectic of Social Exchange: Theorizing Corporate—Social Enterprise Collaboration

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