Building affective commitment in a financial institution through an ambidexterity context

Abstract

PurposeAmbidexterity refers to the tension between two different business models within the same organisation. This paper examines the significance of individuals’ knowledge exploration and exploitation activities in an organisation’s ambidexterity context, along with how they affect the creation of an affective commitment in the workforce. The study then investigates how an organisation’s ambidexterity vision contributes to employees’ affective commitment to learning.Design/methodology/approachThese relationships are examined through an empirical investigation of 219 employees in the financial sector, using structural equation modelling validated by factor analysis.FindingsThe results indicate that for a firm to successfully achieve ambidexterity, its managers need to explicitly work to nurture a context where explorative and exploitative activities take place simultaneously. Another relevant contribution of this study has been addressing the impact that explorative and exploitative activities may have on affective commitment. The results suggest that while the effect of the ambidexterity context on the affective commitment by way of explorative activities is statistically insignificant, the effects of exploitative activities on affective commitment are statistically significant.Originality/valueWhile the extant literature provides useful insights into the relationship between contextual ambidexterity and organisational performance, the relationship between ambidexterity and affective commitment has been less researched. This study has shown that an ambidexterity context is a key component in the process of combining knowledge structures in ways which are appropriate for both exploring value of that knowledge for the company and being effective in exploiting its memory.