Showing papers by "HEC Montréal published in 2011"
TL;DR: In this article, an extension of the classical Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) with a broader and more comprehensive objective function that accounts not just for the travel distance, but also for the amount of greenhouse emissions, fuel, travel times and their costs is presented.
Abstract: The amount of pollution emitted by a vehicle depends on its load and speed, among other factors. This paper presents the Pollution-Routing Problem (PRP), an extension of the classical Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) with a broader and more comprehensive objective function that accounts not just for the travel distance, but also for the amount of greenhouse emissions, fuel, travel times and their costs. Mathematical models are described for the PRP with or without time windows and computational experiments are performed on realistic instances. The paper sheds light on the tradeoffs between various parameters such as vehicle load, speed and total cost, and offers insight on economies of ‘environmental-friendly’ vehicle routing. The results suggest that, contrary to the VRP, the PRP is significantly more difficult to solve to optimality but has the potential of yielding savings in total cost.
924 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe how evaluators make their social judgments under conditions of bounded rationality and how cognitive and social factors influence this process, highlighting the complex and non-deterministic nature of this process.
Abstract: The proposed theory extends research on cognitive and sociopolitical legitimacy, reputation, and status by advancing an evaluator's perspective on these concepts as forms of social judgment, each addressing a different evaluator's question about the organization. I describe how evaluators make their social judgments under conditions of bounded rationality and how cognitive and social factors influence this process. The proposed process model of social judgment formation highlights the complex and nondeterministic nature of this process.
905 citations
TL;DR: The authors provides an overview of the key theoretical and empirical insights into the Porter Hypothesis, draws policy implications from these insights, and sketches out major research themes going forward, as well as highlights the major research topics going forward.
Abstract: Twenty years ago, Harvard Business School economist and strategy professor Michael Porter stood conventional wisdom about the impact of environmental regulation on business on its head by declaring that well-designed regulation could actually enhance competitiveness. The traditional view of environmental regulation held by virtually all economists until that time was that requiring firms to reduce an externality like pollution necessarily restricted their options and thus by definition reduced their profits. After all, if profitable opportunities existed to reduce pollution, profit-maximizing firms would already be taking advantage of those opportunities. Over the past 20 years, much has been written about what has since become known simply as the Porter Hypothesis (PH). Yet even today, we find conflicting evidence and alternative theories that might explain the PH, and oftentimes a misunderstanding of what the PH does and does not say. This paper provides an overview of the key theoretical and empirical insights into the PH to date, draws policy implications from these insights, and sketches out major research themes going forward.
770 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present three variants of the so-called Porter Hypothesis: the weak, narrow and strong versions of the hypothesis are tested using data on the four main elements of the hypothesized causality chain (environmental policy, research and development, environmental performance and commercial performance).
Abstract: Jaffe and Palmer (1997) present three distinct variants of the so-called Porter Hypothesis. The “weak” version of the hypothesis posits that environmental regulation will stimulate certain kinds of environmental innovations. The “narrow” version of the hypothesis asserts that flexible environmental policy regimes give firms greater incentive to innovate than prescriptive regulations, such as technology-based standards. Finally, the “strong” version posits that properly designed regulation may induce cost-saving innovation that more than compensates for the cost of compliance. In this paper, we test the significance of these different variants of the Porter Hypothesis using data on the four main elements of the hypothesised causality chain (environmental policy, research and development, environmental performance and commercial performance). The analysis is based upon a unique database which includes observations from approximately 4200 facilities in seven OECD countries. In general, we find strong support for the “weak” version, qualified support for the “narrow” version, and qualified support for the “strong” version as well.
662 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a framework is developed that shows two situated, but interlinked, discursive activities, "performing the conversation" and "setting the scene", to be critical to the accomplishment of middle manager sensemaking.
Abstract: This paper seeks to better understand the way middle managers contribute strategically to the development of an organization by examining how they enact the strategic roles allocated to them, with particular reference to strategic change. Through vignettes drawn from the authors' current research, a framework is developed that shows two situated, but interlinked, discursive activities, ‘performing the conversation’ and ‘setting the scene’, to be critical to the accomplishment of middle manager sensemaking. Language use is key, but needs to be combined with an ability to devise a setting in which to perform the language. The paper shows how middle managers knowledgeably enact these two sets of discursive activities by drawing on contextually relevant verbal, symbolic, and sociocultural systems, to allow them to draw people from different organizational levels into the change as they go about their day-to-day work.
515 citations
TL;DR: The authors argues that organizational communication research, and in particular a perspective that focuses on narrative, can contribute in important ways to understand the practices of strategy. And they explore applications of narrative approaches to strategy praxis, practices, practitioners and text, review two concepts that might serve to integrate micro and macro levels of analysis.
Abstract: This paper argues that organizational communication research, and in particular a perspective that focuses on narrative, can contribute in important ways to understanding the practices of strategy. Narrative is believed to be critical to sensemaking in organizations, and multiple levels and forms of narrative are inherent to strategic practices. For example, narrative can be found in the micro-stories told by managers and others as they interact and go about their daily work, in the formalized techniques for strategy-making whether or not the techniques are explicitly story-based, in the accounts people give of their work as strategy practitioners, and in the artefacts produced by strategizing activity. After exploring applications of narrative approaches to strategy praxis, practices, practitioners and text, we review two concepts that might serve to integrate micro and macro levels of analysis. Overall, narrative is seen as a way of giving meaning to the practice that emerges from sensemaking activities...
340 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a review and numerically compares several available freight transportation vehicle emission models and also considers their outputs in relation to field studies, in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in freight transportation.
Abstract: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in freight transportation requires using appropriate emission models in the planning process. This paper reviews and numerically compares several available freight transportation vehicle emission models and also considers their outputs in relations to field studies.
338 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a multi-start local search heuristic to solve the problem of ship routing and scheduling with speed optimization, where speed on each sailing leg is introduced as a decision variable.
Abstract: Tramp shipping companies are committed to transport a set of contracted cargoes and try to derive additional revenue from carrying optional spot cargoes. Traditionally, models for ship routing and scheduling problems are based on fixed speed and a given fuel consumption rate for each ship. However, in real life a ship’s speed is variable within an interval, and fuel consumption per time unit can be approximated by a cubic function of speed. Here we present the tramp ship routing and scheduling problem with speed optimization, where speed on each sailing leg is introduced as a decision variable. We present a multi-start local search heuristic to solve this problem. To evaluate each move in the local search we have to determine the optimal speed for each sailing leg of a given ship route. To do this we propose two different algorithms. Extensive computational results show that the solution method solves problems of realistic size and that taking speed into consideration in tramp ship routing and scheduling significantly improves the solutions.
289 citations
TL;DR: The results show that although simple decision-making skills can be acquired with traditional teaching methods, simulation games are more effective when students have to develop decision- making abilities for managing complex and dynamic situations.
Abstract: This study presents a new simulation game and analyzes its impact on operations management education. The proposed simulation was empirically tested by comparing the number of mistakes during the first and second halves of the game. Data were gathered from 100 teams of four or five undergraduate students in business administration, taking their first course in operations management. To assess learning, instead of relying solely on an overall performance measurement, as is usually done in the skill-based learning literature, we analyzed the evolution of different types of mistakes that were made by students in successive rounds of play. Our results show that although simple decision-making skills can be acquired with traditional teaching methods, simulation games are more effective when students have to develop decision-making abilities for managing complex and dynamic situations.
243 citations
01 Mar 2011-Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences-revue Canadienne Des Sciences De L Administration
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors apply the dualistic model of passion to the work setting and examine the relationships between harmonious passion (characterized by a strong but controllable desire to engage in an activity), obsessive passion, characterised by an internal pressure to carry out an activity and optimal functioning outcomes at work.
Abstract: This study applies the dualistic model of passion (Vallerand et al., 2003) to the work setting and examines the relationships between harmonious passion (characterized by a strong but controllable desire to engage in an activity), obsessive passion (characterized by an internal pressure to carry out an activity), and optimal functioning outcomes at work. Harmonious passion associated positively with: mental health; three elements of fl ow (i.e., concentration, control, and autotelic experience); vitality, and affective commitment. These relationships were partly mediated by satisfaction of the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. In contrast, obsessive passion directly and negatively predicted mental health and weakly but positively predicted autotelic experience. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed. Copyright ©2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. JEL Classifi cation: D23
241 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a performative praxis framework for rational decision-making is proposed to explain how rationality, actors, and tools together produce rationality within organizations through three mechanisms: rationality conventionalization, rationality engineering, and rationality commodification.
Abstract: Organizational theorists built their knowledge of decision making through a progressive critique of rational choice theory. Their positioning towards rationality, however, is at odds with the observation of rationality persistence in organizational life. This paper addresses this paradox. It proposes a new perspective on rationality that allows the theorizing of the production of rational decisions by organizations. To account for rationality's eternel retour, we approach rational decision making as performative praxis---a set of activities that contributes to turning rational choice theory into social reality. We develop a performative praxis framework that explains how theory, actors, and tools together produce rationality within organizations through three mechanisms: rationality conventionalization, rationality engineering, and rationality commodification. This framework offers new avenues of research on rational decision making and points to the factors that underlie the manufacture of rationality in organizations.
TL;DR: In this paper, a two-stage multiple criteria dynamic programming approach for supplier selection and order allocation is proposed for two of the most critical tasks in supply chain management, namely, suppliers selection and ordering, subject to constraints on demand, capacity and inventory levels.
TL;DR: An integrative model is developed and an illustration from organizational institutionalism is provided to delineate how metaphors and scripts influence organizational theory production.
Abstract: We argue that three epistemic scripts of knowledge production—evolution, differentiation, and bricolage—underpin the production—that is, the conception and the presentation—of new organizational theories. Bricolage of concepts, empirical material, and metaphors enables the conception of new theories, whereas evolution and differentiation, carrying higher academic legitimacy, predominate in theory presentation. We develop an integrative model and provide an illustration from organizational institutionalism to delineate how metaphors and scripts influence organizational theory production.
TL;DR: A Monte-Carlo simulation-based algorithm is described that integrates a sample average approximation scheme with a Benders decomposition algorithm to solve problems having stochastic independent transportation costs.
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TL;DR: The authors argue that three epistemic scripts of knowledge production (evolution, differentiation, and bricolage) underpin the production of new organizational theories, i.e., the conception and the presentation of new theories, whereas evolution and differentiation, carrying higher academic legitimacy, predominate in theory presentation.
Abstract: We argue that three epistemic scripts of knowledge production--evolution, differentiation, and bricolage--underpin the production--that is, the conception and the presentation--of new organizational theories. Bricolage of concepts, empirical material, and metaphors enables the conception of new theories, whereas evolution and differentiation, carrying higher academic legitimacy, predominate in theory presentation. We develop an integrative model and provide an illustration from organizational institutionalism to delineate how metaphors and scripts influence organizational theory production.
TL;DR: This paper describes an exact algorithm capable of solving large-scale instances of the well-known uncapacitated hub location problem with multiple assignments by applying Benders decomposition to a strong path-based formulation of the problem.
Abstract: This paper describes an exact algorithm capable of solving large-scale instances of the well-known uncapacitated hub location problem with multiple assignments. The algorithm applies Benders decomposition to a strong path-based formulation of the problem. The standard decomposition algorithm is enhanced through the inclusion of several features such as the use of a multicut reformulation, the generation of strong optimality cuts, the integration of reduction tests, and the execution of a heuristic procedure. Extensive computational experiments were performed to evaluate the efficiency and robustness of the algorithm. Computational results obtained on classical benchmark instances (with up to 200 nodes) and on a new and more difficult set of instances (with up to 500 nodes) confirm the efficiency of the algorithm.
04 Jan 2011
TL;DR: It is suggested that age will be the only significant moderator, and gender, voluntariness and experience will not play significant moderating roles, and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) is adapted to the context of EMR system adoption and use by doctors.
Abstract: Electronic medical record (EMR) systems can deliver many benefits to healthcare organizations and the patients they serve. However, one of the biggest stumbling blocks in garnering these benefits is the limited adoption and use by doctors. We employ the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) as the theoretical foundation and adapt the theory to the context of EMR system adoption and use by doctors. Specifically, we suggest that age will be the only significant moderator, and gender, voluntariness and experience will not play significant moderating roles. We tested our model in a longitudinal study over a 7-month period in a hospital implementing a new EMR system. We collected 3 waves of survey data from 141 doctors and used system logs to measure use. While the original UTAUT only predicted about 20% of the variance in intention, the modified UTAUT predicted 44%. Both models were comparable in their prediction of use. In addition to contributing to healthcare IT and UTAUT research, we hope this work will serve as a foundation for future work that integrates UTAUT with other theoretical perspectives.
TL;DR: The paper suggests that networks of indecision are dialectically constituted through a set of practices of reification and practices of strategic ambiguity, and is strongly associated with pluralistic settings characterized by diffuse power and divergent interests.
Abstract: This paper examines an organizational pathology that we label “escalating indecision”---where people find themselves driven to invest time and energy in activities and decision processes aimed at resolving an issue of common concern, but where closure appears elusive. The phenomenon is illustrated through a case history in which a strategic orientation decision involving the configuration of a group of large teaching hospitals was continually made, unmade, and remade, producing little concrete strategic action over many years before achieving more tangible moves toward implementation. The paper introduces the notion of a “network of indecision” in which participants have become sufficiently attached to a common project to continue working together to move it forward, but their divergent conceptions of what this involves prevent them from materializing it in a tangible form. The paper suggests that networks of indecision are dialectically constituted through a set of practices of reification and practices of strategic ambiguity. The phenomenon is strongly associated with pluralistic settings characterized by diffuse power and divergent interests, and its prevalence is likely to be greater in situations of reactive leadership, uncertain resource availabilities, and long time horizons.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the impact that the political connections of publicly traded firms have on their performance and financing decisions, and find that firms increase their performance after the establishment of a political connection, and that the connection is more strongly associated with changes in leverage and operating performance for firms with closer ties to political power.
Abstract: We investigate the impact that the political connections of publicly traded firms have on their performance and financing decisions. Using a long-term event study covering a sample of 234 politically connected firms headquartered in 12 developed and 11 developing countries over the period 1989 to 2003, we find that firms increase their performance and indebtedness after the establishment of a political connection. We also find that the political connection is more strongly associated with changes in leverage and operating performance for firms with closer ties to political power. Overall, our study confirms that politically connected firms gain easier access to credit and reap benefits in terms of performance from their ties with politicians.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate how Human Resources (HR) contributes to responsible leadership at the functional, practical, and relational levels of analysis and highlight areas of collaboration and tension between HR and CSR functions around emerging practices of responsible leadership.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to investigate how Human Resources (HR) contributes to responsible leadership. Although Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices have been embraced by many corporations in recent years, the specific contributions of HR professionals, HR management practices and employees to responsible leadership have been overlooked. Relying on the analysis of interviews with 30 CSR and HR corporate executives from 22 corporations operating in France, we specify the HR contributions to responsible leadership at the functional, practical, and relational levels of analysis. We analyze whether and how HR support employees’ involvement in CSR, and highlight areas of collaboration and tension between HR and CSR functions around emerging practices of responsible leadership. Our findings uncover the multiple yet often implicit roles of HR in responsible leadership as well as the interrelation between functional, practical and relational dimensions of these roles. Finally, this study suggests that the organization of the HR–CSR interface can enable or undermine the HR contributions to responsible leadership and points to underlying cognitive factors that shape the HR–CSR interface.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate how the creation of the Canadian Public Accountability Board (CPAB) has affected the dynamics of power among the main players in Canada's regulation of public accounting.
Abstract: In the aftermath of Enron and the collapse of Arthur Andersen, new “independent” institutions were created to oversee financial auditing. Based on a modified version of Lukes’ multidimensional model of power, we first investigate how the creation of the Canadian Public Accountability Board (CPAB) has affected the dynamics of power among the main players enlisted in Canada’s regulation of public accounting. Our findings strengthen the view that a “form of allegiance” was, at the time of data collection, developing between CPAB and the largest Canadian accounting firms. Through a second analytical movement, we extend the boundaries of our argument, showing that patterns of resistance against the logic of arm’s length regulation operate in a variety of audit regulatory sites. Our conclusion points, in particular, to the spatial gap – and incidentally the limitations – of any attempt to control and supervise a globalized industry from a national or regional perspective.
TL;DR: One possible answer to the question: "Why have the appropriations made of TCT to study IT outsourcing produced mixed results?" is provided.
Abstract: Highlights? Extant information technology outsourcing research based on transaction cost economics is reviewed. ? We attempt to explain the mixed results obtained in empirical studies. ? We found that models do not take into account all the constructs from Transaction Cost Theory. ? Few empirical studies take into account the normative nature of the theory. ? Proposed models are not always consistent with the theory. Transaction Cost Theory (TCT) has been widely used in information technology outsourcing (ITO) research to explain and predict outsourcing decisions and outsourcing-related outcomes. This research, however, has led to mixed and unexpected results in terms of the effects of transaction attributes on outsourcing decisions and outcomes. This study assesses the empirical literature employing TCT-based ITO models in terms of its faithfulness to the precepts of TCT, and argues that one possible explanation for the mixed results is that the extant models do not capture all the essential elements of TCT. First, there are core TCT constructs that the extant models do not take into account; second, the linkages among constructs that the IT outsourcing models have hypothesized are not always in line with TCT precepts; and third, the normative nature of the theory is not always captured by the extant models. This paper, therefore, aims to provide one possible answer to the question: "Why have the appropriations made of TCT to study IT outsourcing produced mixed results?"
01 Dec 2011
TL;DR: In this paper, a distance Laplacian and a signless signless L 1 for the distance matrix of a connected graph is introduced, called the distance L 1 and distance L 2, respectively.
Abstract: We introduce a Laplacian and a signless Laplacian for the distance matrix of a connected graph, called the distance Laplacian and distance signless Laplacian , respectively. We show the equivalence between the distance signless Laplacian, distance Laplacian and the distance spectra for the class of transmission regular graphs. There is also an equivalence between the Laplacian spectrum and the distance Laplacian spectrum of any connected graph of diameter 2. Similarities between n , as a distance Laplacian eigenvalue, and the algebraic connectivity are established.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the practical knowledge of strategy which shapes the calculations performed by accountants and middle managers when they are making a budget and propose an in-depth investigation of the budgeting conversations collected during an extensive field study in a large construction firm that had undertaken a new partnership strategy.
Abstract: This paper aims to advance the notion of the “situated functionality of numbers” ( Ahrens & Chapman, 2007 ) by investigating the practical knowledge of strategy which shapes the calculations performed by accountants and middle managers when they are making a budget. It proposes an in-depth investigation of the budgeting conversations collected during an extensive field study in a large construction firm that had undertaken a new partnership strategy. Drawing on a conversation analytical approach, it identifies three micro-practices of calculation constitutive of the accountants’ and middle managers’ strategic competence: invoking the usefulness of numbers to activate local projects; constructing the acceptability of numbers to report them to external partners; authorising the plausibility of numbers to reconcile local contingencies and global coherence. The paper then explores how accountants and middle managers come to a mutual understanding of their respective accountabilities when they perform their strategic competence. It ends by discussing the unintended consequences of these transformations in their professional roles.
TL;DR: This article examined the trajectories of change in role stressors (ambiguity, conflict, and overload), job attitudes (affective commitment and job satisfaction), and turnover intention and psychological well-being among neophyte newcomers, as well as the relationships among these changes.
Abstract: Using a latent growth modeling (LGM) approach, this paper examines the trajectories of change in role stressors (ambiguity, conflict, and overload), job attitudes (affective commitment and job satisfaction), and turnover intention and psychological well-being among neophyte newcomers, as well as the relationships among these changes. Based on a sample of 170 university alumni surveyed three times during the first months of employment, we found that role conflict and role overload increased, affective commitment and job satisfaction declined, and turnover intention increased over the course of the study. Role ambiguity and well-being did not change. The initial levels of affective commitment, job satisfaction, and well-being were positively related to the increase in role overload, while the initial level of turnover intention was related to a reduced increase in role overload over time. We also found that the increase in role overload and role conflict was associated with a decline in affective commitment and job satisfaction, respectively, and that the decrease in affective commitment and satisfaction was related to an increase in turnover intention. We discuss the implications of these findings
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conducted an empirical study to assess the profitability of ecodesigned products and compared the results of French companies with those of Quebec, concluding that the most important aspects to consider when getting involved in an ecodesign project is to focus on increased functionality of the product and to seek environmental and economic improvement on as many life cycle stages as possible.
TL;DR: The results suggest several factors influencing the partner's perceptions of focal individual incivility during MC, including who initiates the conversation, whether one of the conversations being juggled is useful to the other conversation, and whether the partner is certain of or only suspects the existence of theother conversation.
Abstract: New communication technologies, increased virtual communication, and the intense pressure for managers and employees to be continually available and “online” are giving rise to a new and emerging workplace behavior: multicommunicating (MC), or the managing of multiple conversations at the same time. Whereas researchers in psychology and management have studied the phenomenon of multitasking, few have examined multitasking where one juggles not just multiple tasks but multiple people and often multiple media at the same time. We use the spiral theory of incivility to investigate the relational outcomes of MC from the perspective of the communication partners being juggled. Our research extends this theory by further exploring the starting point of the spiral and---through the application of social exchange theory---suggesting several antecedents to incivility that are important in the context of MC. Employing a survey methodology, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected to test the theory (n = 324) and were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis and structural equation modeling. The results suggest several factors influencing the partner's perceptions of focal individual incivility during MC, including who initiates the conversation, whether one of the conversations being juggled is useful to the other conversation, the focal individual's performance during the conversation, whether the focal individual is more accessible to the partner, and whether the partner is certain of or only suspects the existence of the other conversation. Further, partners' perceptions of these factors are influenced by their individual orientations toward MC. Finally, the partners' perceptions of the focal individual's incivility influence their interpersonal trust in the focal individual.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify four distinct styles of management accounting function: discrete, safeguarding, partner, and omnipotent, and show that each style can be associated with one main role: discrete control of managerial behaviour, socialisation of managers, facilitation of decision-making, and centralisation of power.
Abstract: Recent techniques and shifts in the environment are often viewed as leading management accountants to adopt a business orientation. However, empirical evidence pointing to clear shifts in the role played by management accountants remains relatively scarce. From in-depth qualitative research based on 73 interviews in ten multinational companies, we identify four distinct styles of management accounting function: discrete, safeguarding, partner, and omnipotent. We show that each style can be associated with one main role: discrete control of managerial behaviour, socialisation of managers, facilitation of decision-making, and centralisation of power. From this in-depth analysis of management accountants' styles and roles we move on to discuss the authority they hold and the independence/involvement dilemma they face.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors conducted an exploratory, multiple-case study on Vietnamese born-globals and found that the major driver of Vietnamese entrepreneurship is the entrepreneurs' leadership desire together with the need for short-term profits.
Abstract: Despite the fact that many firms in a wide range of industries in various countries internationalize at or near inception, research on factors leading to the formation of born-globals has been limited to firms from advanced, open economies. In order to give a voice to the phenomenon of Vietnamese founding born-globals, we conducted an exploratory, multiple-case study. Three findings of this study are: (1) the major driver to the formation of Vietnamese born-globals is the entrepreneurs’ leadership desire together with the need for short-term profits; (2) their choice of internationalization mode is influenced by market conditions as well as the internationalization degree of the industries in which they find their business opportunities; and (3) the reason why other motivators found in earlier studies do not apply lies in the peculiarity of the Vietnam context.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate empirically how change leaders' efforts to transcend contradictions emerge, evolve and contribute to organizational change, and find that the credibility of the discourse is enhanced when it is embedded in extant institutional ideas, when stakeholders' interests and values appear to be accommodated and when leaders are viewed as legitimate.
Abstract: Purpose – Previous work on paradox and contradiction has argued for management approaches that transcend dilemmas through a kind of creative synthesis. The purpose of this paper is to investigate empirically how change leaders' efforts to transcend contradictions emerge, evolve and contribute to organizational change.Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses three case studies in different sectors drawing on interviews, documents and observations.Findings – It is found that discourses of transcendence emerge as leaders bring new elements to the debate and supply a rationale that creatively bridges opposite poles of a dilemma. The credibility of the discourse is enhanced when it is embedded in extant institutional ideas, when stakeholders' interests and values appear to be accommodated and when leaders are viewed as legitimate. However, inherent contradictions tend to resurface over time, suggesting that while transcendence offers a powerful stimulus for change, its range and lifetime may be transit...