The Effects of Leaders'Regulatory Focus on Exploration and Exploitation of Employees

Abstract

To achieve viability in the long-term, organizations have to face continuous and at times abrupt environmental change. Organizational ambidexterity, the simultaneous engagement in exploration of new opportunities and exploitation of existing capabilities, is widely considered as promising approach to master these challenges. Recently, researchers refocused their attention to the micro- foundations of ambidexterity. In spite of the essential part played by individuals in reaching ambidexterity at the company level, the present grasp of how individual exploration and exploitation is initiated remains rather ambiguous. Employing an experimental design, the reactions of 492 employees demonstrate that the psychological alignments of superiors, namely their regulatory focus type, significantly influences the decision to engage in exploration or exploitation behavior. Thus, corresponding regulatory focus aligned management can be utilized to foster individual level exploring and exploiting. Moreover, the data al...