Navigating Organizational Paradoxes in Indian Context: The Role of Cultural Metacognition
摘要
Organizational paradoxes—interdependent contradictions—are becoming increasingly relevant in today’s complex world. In India, such paradoxes are evident in socio-cultural realities, such as wealth disparity, food shortage, and wastage, and are rooted in philosophical and spiritual epistemics. Yet extant research rarely integrates cultural psychology with paradox theory or explores its impact on the dynamics of Indian organizations. This chapter emphasizes cultural metacognition—the awareness of socio-cognitive processes shaped by culture—as key to understanding paradoxes. Drawing on cross-cultural studies in cognitive dissonance, self-construal, thinking styles, and attribution, it examines how certain cultural tendencies can both aid and hinder paradox management. By bridging paradox theory with cultural insights, this chapter, toward the end, offers culturally informed strategies for Indian leaders and managers.