Digital Paradox Navigation: A Second‐Order Cybernetic Framework for Organisational Reflexivity in Digital Transformation

ABSTRACT

This study develops and empirically examines the Digital Paradox Navigation (DPN) framework, which integrates second‐order cybernetics with digital transformation theory to explain how organisations manage paradoxical tensions through reflexive self‐observation. Using a mixed‐methods design, this study draws on data from 45 senior executives of 12 leading Indian organisations and analyses 156 digital transformation initiatives undertaken during 2023–2024. The DPN framework reconceptualises digital transformation as an autopoietic organisational process governed through reflexive self‐observation. Four recursive capability dimensions are delineated: technological self‐reference, cultural autopoiesis, strategic paradox management and environmental boundary spanning. Significant positive correlations are observed between digital reflexivity and transformation success ( r  = 0.73, p  < 0.001); organisations with higher digital reflexivity achieved substantially higher revenue growth (15.7% vs. 8.2%) than low‐reflexivity counterparts. The framework offers a theoretically grounded extension relative to dynamic capabilities, organisational ambidexterity and institutional theory and proposes practitioner‐oriented tools including a maturity assessment instrument and a phased implementation roadmap.