Despite significant advances afforded by recent insights into the coexistence of multiple paradoxes, we still know little about the precise ways in which multiple intertwined or knotted paradoxes relate to one another. In particular, scholars have not yet studied how differences in the perceived intensity of paradoxes influence the development of paradox knots. We draw on a longitudinal qualitative case study of a German development NGO operating in Uganda to elucidate and elaborate upon the knotted nature of two paradoxes faced by this NGO, namely a means-end paradox and an identity elasticity paradox. Our analysis shows how the intensity of these two knotted paradoxes developed inversely, with the NGO’s response to the means-end paradox amplifying the identity elasticity paradox and its response to the identity elasticity paradox mitigating the means-end paradox. Based on these findings, we extend the literature on paradox knots in two ways. First, we show how knotted paradoxes can be asymmetrically aligned, with each alternately amplifying or mitigating the intensity of the other over time. Second, we show that paradox knots need to be understood as temporary and unstable phenomena that can both emerge and decline – or “fade in” and “fade out” – in their effects.

Ambidexterity is a highly tension-filled strategic concern that attempts to combine the fundamentally divergent logics of exploration and exploitation. While the present research is concerned with the management of these tensions, little consideration is given to effects that result from this unfolding process over time and are manifested in critical thresholds. In our study, we reveal the pivotal role of handling these thresholds for the direction in which ambi-dexterity processes develop. We build on a six-month ethnographic study of a company in the European energy market (EnergyCo) to investigate the process of building an incubator (IncuCo). We show changes between a phase of more control that promotes integration and inhibits progress and a phase of driving ambidexterity towards acceleration that promotes differentiation and creates counter-movements. Highlighting the within-phase tensions and between-phase thresholds, we contribute to research on the microfoundations of hybrid ambidexterity by highlighting the role of thresholds to manage the complex dynamics underlying hybrid ambidexterity and the multiple interests of actors, which we theorize as double faces of ambidexterity.

The COVID-19 pandemic situation hit companies worldwide unexpectedly and created a momentum of tremendous change when governmental restrictions of social distancing caused an increase in employees suddenly working from home. To address this uncertainty and provide companies with measures to face identification crisis, diminishing creativity, and overall reduced well-being among employees, we conducted this study based on current research trends in human resource practices and emphasized the newly established research interest on the impact that internal corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions have on creativity. Further, we theorize that internal CSR actions not only influence creativity but also lead to threatening stress when mal established. We analyze these relationships via an empirical model using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Our results show that companies should focus on internal CSR for two main reasons. First, it increases employees’ creativity. Second, it reduces one severe aspect of stress namely threat followed by a capacitive liberation for more creativity. Emphasizing internal CSR actions may also prevent employees to distract from the company and lose their identification in times of uncertainty, as working from home as working from home reduces the positive effect of internal CSR on creativity which can be grounded in social identity theory.

In this paper, we consider how emerging, controversially discussed technologies are discursively constructed. We argue that for such technologies, meaning is neither societally institutionalized, nor do social actors frame this meaning in a purely intentional way. Building on a hermeneutic sociology of knowledge perspective, we discuss how societal knowledge and heterogenous practices of actors are communicatively co-constructed and guide the becoming of technology. We illustrate the meaning dynamics using the example of the discourse around Big Data Analytics (BDA) in Germany from 2010-2020 and reveal three interpretive frames that unfold from the recursive relations of societal knowledge and social actors. The implication of our paper is that the discursive construction of emerging technologies can only be understood through an actor concept that understands social actors as both producers and …

Consumer innovators increasingly engage in commercial distribution of their products. This work investigates how labelling the source of innovation as consumer made affects the price elasticity of demand. Our core results draw from a large-scale matched sample of 2754 pairs of consumer innovation branded and regular product sales data from a video game marketplace. The underlying processes are examined in a factorial survey with quantitative and qualitative parts. In low price areas, customers can relate to the unique motivational set of consumer innovators, who do not primarily innovate out of commercial interest. Knowing about their ulterior motives, customers do infer less non-monetary innovation effort reductions when prices are low. Negative low-price effects on demand are dampened. At high prices, customers are more trusting towards consumer innovators that their prices are justified by higher development effort rather than profit interest. This fosters price acceptance and reduces the perceived sacrifice of high consumer innovation prices compared to regular supply. Customers further notice superior creativity of consumer innovators and the hardships of individual product development. Consequently, compared to regular supply, the demand for consumer innovation labelled products is less sensitive to low or high prices. We render conclusions for consumer innovators’ pricing, marketplaces and policy makers. Attesting customers’ awareness of consumer entrepreneurial backgrounds and that it moderates marketing measures, we suggest further research in the area of consumer innovation marketing.

The global waste problem constitutes one of our grand societal challenges and requires a sustainable transition of the economy. One way to achieve this transition is to move to a circular economy. Realizing such a transition encompasses multiple actors from politics, business and the society and a broad range of measures such as regulations, new business models and a change in consumption behavior. This research sets out to analyze how the realization of the circular economy is realized through the systematic interaction of a circular business model and multiple stakeholders. We draw on the literature on hybrid organizations and circular economy and develop a single case study of a circular startup that works towards reducing waste through interaction with its value network. We develop a conceptual model that illustrates how a social enterprise uses practices at multiple levels to address critical growth episodes and their associated hybridity challenges, contributing to a transition toward a circular economy. Our findings advance understanding of hybrid organizing as a multi-level phenomenon and the role of stakeholder interactions for circular transitions.