Participatory Processes/Paradoxical Practices

Abstract

This article brings together previous research efforts by the authors and reviews a wide range of relevant literatures to explain and analyze paradoxes of employee participation and workplace democracy. Although the authors do not take the position that all or even most of these paradoxes are necessarily harmful, they do maintain that there are a variety of practical avenues for dealing with them. The heart of the essay analyzes several main categories of participatory paradoxes: those of structure, agency, identity, and power. Following that, the authors offer practical suggestions for the management of paradoxes (and related tensions and contradictions), linking those recommendations to relevant theoretical and empirical propositions.

Living Our Mission: A Study of University Mission Building

“…Rather than viewing contradiction as negative, this line of work suggests that this is a place where useful and applicable meaning might be found (Tracy, 2004;Turner, 2004). Stohl and Cheney (2001) provide an extensive analysis of paradoxes, contradictions, and irony that is particularly useful in examining this case. Paradox represents a tension in which "in the pursuit of one goal, the pursuit of another competing goal enters the situation so as to undermine the first pursuit" (p. 354).…”

“…However, these practices simultaneous raise the expectations for the institution making it difficult for them to continue toward academic excellence while maintaining the faith mission of the university. This parallels the paradox of adaptation (Stohl & Cheney, 2001). In this paradox, the organization seeks to maintain its identifying characteristics while adapting to organizational surroundings.…”

“…Several scholars have taken up tension, contradiction, and paradox to examine organizational interactions (e.g., Tretheway & Ashcraft, 2004;Stohl & Cheney, 2001;Turner, 2004). Tretheway and Ashcraft (2004) argue that these tensions or organizational irrationality are common to all organizations.…”

“…In looking at Jesuit institutions efforts to communicate identity through emphasis on mission, the paradoxes that emerge represent pragmatic paradoxes, which are those that must be understood in the context of interaction (Stohl & Cheney, 2001). The paradox in this context is split between the level of the individual and the organization.…”

Accept or Reject? Predicting Ideation Outcomes through Enterprise Social Media

“…For employees, the ability to participate in organizational decision-making is beneficial as it leads to greater employee satisfaction and productivity [1]. This is despite the paradox that the final decision remains in the hands of upper management [2]. The introduction of enterprise social media (ESM) and its increasing adoption within organizations may be expected to increase the level of employee participation in the ideation process, defined as the generation, development, and submission of ideas [3].…”