From a logic perspective to a paradox perspective in the analysis of an employee-owned company

This article addresses the methodological question of how the researcher tackles the problem of only having access to empirical data through social interpretation processes (a second order social constructivism). It is argued that researchers can learn new aspects about an organization by replacing a logic perspective, predominant within western research, with a paradox perspective on the analysis of the organization. A paradox perspective rests on the assumption that mutually exclusive phenomena exist in the organization. This article describes the four phases of analysis which were developed when a paradox perspective was applied to analyse development at an employee-owned Danish newspaper. (Economic and Industrial Democracy / FUB)