Unlocking the Paradox: Exploring the Impact of Management Paradox Thinking on Corporate Innovation Performance

Paradoxical thinking (PT), a cognitive approach to addressing conflicting managerial demands, plays a dual role in shaping corporate innovation outcomes. This study explores how PT in team management affects innovation performance using a dual-path model based on data from 122 enterprise innovation...

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Main Authors: Binbin Zhao, Zhongli Zhang, Mengyun Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2025-07-01
Series:SAGE Open
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251359078
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author Binbin Zhao
Zhongli Zhang
Mengyun Zhang
author_facet Binbin Zhao
Zhongli Zhang
Mengyun Zhang
author_sort Binbin Zhao
collection DOAJ
description Paradoxical thinking (PT), a cognitive approach to addressing conflicting managerial demands, plays a dual role in shaping corporate innovation outcomes. This study explores how PT in team management affects innovation performance using a dual-path model based on data from 122 enterprise innovation teams. The findings show that while PT enhances innovation by fostering employee action learning (AL), it also impairs performance by increasing Cognitive load (CL). Additionally, power distance strengthens the positive mediating effect of AL but does not significantly influence the negative impact of CL. These findings contribute to organizational behavior research by deepening the understanding of cognitive strategies and offering practical insights for managing cognitive demands in team-based innovation.
format Article
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institution DOAJ
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publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher SAGE Publishing
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spelling doaj-art-e55a27161d18450bbf50baa30612a1de2025-08-20T02:46:09ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open2158-24402025-07-011510.1177/21582440251359078Unlocking the Paradox: Exploring the Impact of Management Paradox Thinking on Corporate Innovation PerformanceBinbin Zhao0Zhongli Zhang1Mengyun Zhang2 School of Public Policy and Management, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei, China School of Public Policy and Management, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei, China School of Public Policy and Management, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei, ChinaParadoxical thinking (PT), a cognitive approach to addressing conflicting managerial demands, plays a dual role in shaping corporate innovation outcomes. This study explores how PT in team management affects innovation performance using a dual-path model based on data from 122 enterprise innovation teams. The findings show that while PT enhances innovation by fostering employee action learning (AL), it also impairs performance by increasing Cognitive load (CL). Additionally, power distance strengthens the positive mediating effect of AL but does not significantly influence the negative impact of CL. These findings contribute to organizational behavior research by deepening the understanding of cognitive strategies and offering practical insights for managing cognitive demands in team-based innovation.https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251359078
spellingShingle Binbin Zhao
Zhongli Zhang
Mengyun Zhang
Unlocking the Paradox: Exploring the Impact of Management Paradox Thinking on Corporate Innovation Performance
SAGE Open
title Unlocking the Paradox: Exploring the Impact of Management Paradox Thinking on Corporate Innovation Performance
title_full Unlocking the Paradox: Exploring the Impact of Management Paradox Thinking on Corporate Innovation Performance
title_fullStr Unlocking the Paradox: Exploring the Impact of Management Paradox Thinking on Corporate Innovation Performance
title_full_unstemmed Unlocking the Paradox: Exploring the Impact of Management Paradox Thinking on Corporate Innovation Performance
title_short Unlocking the Paradox: Exploring the Impact of Management Paradox Thinking on Corporate Innovation Performance
title_sort unlocking the paradox exploring the impact of management paradox thinking on corporate innovation performance
url https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251359078
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AT zhonglizhang unlockingtheparadoxexploringtheimpactofmanagementparadoxthinkingoncorporateinnovationperformance
AT mengyunzhang unlockingtheparadoxexploringtheimpactofmanagementparadoxthinkingoncorporateinnovationperformance