Managing strategic paradoxes: the influence of demographic characteristics of decision-makers

Abstract

PurposeTogether with increasing ambiguity and frequency of changes, management becomes full of seemingly conflicting choices, i.e. paradoxes, coming up in the process of decision-making. Successful management of paradoxes, i.e. treating them as “both/and” constructs leads to innovative solutions and better overall organizational performance. In response to a significant research gap regarding antecedents of managing paradoxes, the aim of the paper is to investigate how individual characteristics of strategic decision-makers, specifically their age, tenure and educational background, affect the ability to combine contradictions in their strategic choices.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical study was conducted among 201 managers representing furniture companies in Poland. The CATI technique with an interview questionnaire was adopted in order to identify respondents' opinions on the main features, traits and dimensions of the strategy implemented in their companies. Participants' tenure, age and education were measured by single items.FindingsThe study suggests that the ability to manage paradoxes increases with age and tenure in a company and at a current position. At the same time economic/business educational background appears to be unsupportive in this regard.Originality/valueWhile the issue of managing paradoxes energizes researchers in various disciplines, we still do not know much about antecedents of the process. The study shed light on effects that managers' demographics have on their ability of managing paradoxes. It contributes to the theory on strategic paradoxes as well as theory on the influence of decision-makers' individual characteristics on their decisions.

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“…Successful handling of paradoxes, such as whether to work in isolation from competitors or closely cooperate with them, leads to “innovative solutions and better overall organizational performance” (Glińska-Neweś et al. , 2020).…”

Demystifying the winning managerial characteristics for handling organizational paradoxes

“…The review is based on ‘Managing strategic paradoxes: the influence of demographic characteristics of decision-makers’ by Glińska-Neweś, A. et al . (2020), published in ‘Journal of Organizational Change Management.’ This research paper concentrates on the impact that the managerial characteristics of age, educational background, and in-company tenure and in-role tenure have on a manager's ability to handle paradoxical priorities.…”

“…The paradox, then, is an inescapable facet of a manager's reality. A research paper by Glińska-Neweś et al . (2020) explores how the demographics of managerial decision-makers impacts their approach and competence in managing strategic paradoxes.…”