If I Say It's Complex, It Bloody Well Will Be: CEO Strategies for Managing Paradox

This empirical article focuses on practices by CEOs of global organizations to manage paradox. Earlier research has pointed to how difficult it is to solve paradoxes and has suggested overarching approaches for their resolution. The purpose with this article is to further the understanding of how paradox handling works in practice. The article builds on interviews with CEOs of 20 global organizations selected out of their ability to create both economic and social value. The article aims to contribute to the literature by (a) showing how CEOs relate to paradoxes and (b) strategies for solving the paradoxes. Suggestions are made for how this develops the current literature in the area, and what further research may look into. The article informs industrial practice by showing examples of managerial solutions to paradoxes and by highlighting paradox resolution as a source of competitive advantage