Paradox Theory

Is your organisation trying to square a circle? Paradox theory offers a useful lens for analysing how organisations navigate equally important but contradictory demands.

In my own research, I tried to make sense of the behaviour of international NGOs that advocate for local empowerment in aid, yet retain control over strategy, monitoring, and funding. Paradox theory in organisation and management studies approaches the conflicting demands organisations face as ongoing tensions that are inherent to the situation. It sees these opposing demands not as temporary separate problems but as interconnected elements that continuously shape each other.

Take the aid sector, for example: international NGOs face growing demands for greater localisation and community participation. Several sectoral standards now require this. At the same time, donors impose strict quality control requirements, and governments have legal frameworks that shape how aid can be delivered. To succeed, international NGOs must ensure that aid complies with sectoral, donor, and legal obligations, while simultaneously relinquishing substantial control to local actors. 

I used a paradox lens to analyse how international NGOs navigate these conflicting demands. I found internally contradictory project models that centred local empowerment in the project's strategy but relied on external control during implementation. I also observed the central role of impression management in aid, where writing, visuals, and performances were used to create the impression that local empowerment was actually being achieved through external control. Most importantly, a paradox lens helped me understand how international NGOs' efforts to meet contradictory demands let them to perpetuate the status quo - not despite their aims, but because of them.

If you're interested in a case study, this paper applies a paradox lens to a localised, community-based aid project in Ethiopia. https://lnkd.in/eTiAzfFR