Is VUCA Incomplete in the Luxury Sector? Paradox Management as a Missing Dimension of Managerial Reality

Details

Supervisors

Decaux, Loïc

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

enThe post-2020 period has been shaped by a succession of overlapping global disruptions, described by the World Economic Forum as a “polycrisis.” Compared with previous decades, the contemporary global environment in 2026 is characterised by higher levels of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. Although the VUCA framework captures unstable environments, it remains limited in explaining how managers navigate persistent strategic contradictions. This limitation appears particularly significant in the luxury sector, where organisations operate under additional constraints such as heritage preservation, exclusivity and symbolic value creation, while simultaneously adapting to changing market conditions and growth pressures. Based on qualitative interviews with professionals across different functions of the sector, this study examines whether paradox management constitutes a missing managerial dimension within VUCA environments in the luxury sector. The findings further suggest that VUCA may remain conceptually incomplete in the luxury sector without considering paradox management, as paradoxes emerge not as occasional tensions but as structural realities embedded in the sector’s characteristics and managerial functioning. This research contributes to a stronger conceptual articulation between VUCA and paradox management while providing empirical insights into the strategic tensions characterising the luxury sector.