Abstract Paradox management research offers insights on addressing the more and more complex organizational tensions. Prior research has neither clarified the distinctions between Chinese and Western origins of thoughts about paradox, nor identified how characteristics of paradox influence the effectiveness of paradox management. To fill this gap, this study compared the two origins of thoughts, identified the relevant extant research, and clarified the theoretical implications brought by the characteristics of paradox. The results show：① Chinese indigenous thoughts about paradox originate from the dialectics while the Western ones originate from the reflections on the formal logic; ②organizational paradoxes are interrelated, and the effective paradox management depends on the simultaneous integration and differentiation, which enables paradox to enter into virtuous cycles. The virtuous cycles also depend on the asymmetrical balance for paradox. Compared with representative Chinese indigenous theories, institutional theory and leadership theory, this study then explored the future research for paradox management.
2017, Vol. 14 
