Zum Management von organisationalen Spannungen und Paradoxien

This cumulative dissertation examines the question of how organizations manage tensions and paradoxes – frequently the outcome of increasing complexity. The answer to the research question „How do organizations manage multiple demands and the ensuing tensions and paradoxes and what consequences emerge from this against the background of a paradox perspective?“ is provided by a synthesis of the central findings of the four sub-studies. By building on the insights of a single case study, the first paper illustrates how the proactive approach tensions and paradoxes within an organization allow for sustained corporate success. Study two – a comparative case study – explores the contribution of a targeted HRM to deal with tensions between exploration and exploitation. The third paper is a systematic literature review of the role of leaders when managing organizational tensions and paradoxes. The fourth paper – a single-case study – focuses on the daily management (HR-) work of middle management and shows how defensive approaches to tensions and inconsistencies result in the interruption of learning cycles. The synthesis against the backdrop of the Theory of Paradox (paradox perspective). shows (1) that especially in highly dynamic environments, organizational stability and change are based on a proactive approach towards complexity and the tensions and paradoxes resulting from this and (2) that the management of organizational tensions and paradoxes begins at several levels to allow a proactive both-and perspective both in terms of thinking and acting in the organization as a whole.