Lens Of Ambidexterity Research Articles

The impact of neoliberalist government reform and regulatory oversight on private training providers in the UK technical education sector

PurposeAdopting the lens of ambidexterity, this paper examines decision-making within private technical education providers as they attempt to meet workforce and UK government training demands against a backdrop of unprecedented pace of global change in technology.Design/methodology/approachQualitative data, drawn from semi-structured interviews of participants within a private training provider, was analysed thematically to investigate common patterns, clarify understanding and identify development areas to inform government bodies and private provider apprenticeship delivery practices.FindingsThe findings reveal the extent to which neoliberalism is potentially undermining technical education reform and increasing regulation whilst decreasing trust and reducing authentic partnerships between key stakeholders, together negatively impacting ambidextrous decision-making.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is limited by the use of a monolingual, monocultural sample; therefore, a broader cross-section of respondents from a wider range, size and geographical location of training providers may result in a deeper understanding of the varying tensions and challenges associated with technical education reform.Practical implicationsThis work seeks to inform policymakers of the wider consequences of neoliberalism and provide recommendations for government bodies and technical training providers to work collaboratively in seeking solutions to the barriers in delivering vocational training fit for a future-proof workforce.Originality/valueThis paper builds on a limited body of research examining the dual impact of once in a lifetime technological challenges and the consequence of neoliberalism upon ambidextrous decision-making within private providers of post-16 technical education.

Responsible research and innovation: An ambidexterity lens of generalized and specialized responsibilities

AbstractThe incompatibility between diverse responsible principles of science and technology (S&T) and multi‐stakeholders' heterogeneous value assessments underscores the importance of coordinating normative principles of responsible research and innovation (RRI). In this context, this study adopts an ambidexterity lens to address this issue, conceptualizing two constructs—“generalized responsibility” and “specialized responsibility” of S&T (GRST and SRST)—to illustrate the trade‐offs. It explores the antecedents of GRST and SRST from an agency perspective. Drawing from a dataset of 19,707 poll responses, the study employs a fractional logit regression model to examine the relationships between three types of agency (iterational agency, strategic agency, and ethical agency) and GRST and SRST. The results reveal a positive relationship between iterational agency and SRST, and between strategic agency and GRST, as well as U‐shaped effects of iterational agency on GRST, strategic agency on SRST, and ethical agency on both GRST and SRST. Moreover, ethical agency is found to be more important for SRST than for GRST. The study offers theoretical and policy implications for a critical discussion about responsible innovation.

Beyond ambidexterity: universities and their changing roles in driving regional development in challenging times

Around the world today, universities are expected to play a unique role as creators of regional growth and innovation. While there appears to be a consensus that the role of universities has been expanded, critiques show that the contribution of universities to their regions is still not well defined. There have been some developments in the literature on the concept of modern universities such as the triple helix, entrepreneurial university and engaged university. However, those concepts focus on enforcing universities’ roles in a single domain such as entrepreneurship, innovation, or civic engagement. Little is known about how universities can facilitate regional growth that goes beyond knowledge transfer activities such as spin-off creation, licensing, and patenting. This paper contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of universities’ role in regional growth through the theoretical lens of ambidexterity. Using ambidexterity, universities with a regional focus were distinguished from those engaged in research commercialization and traditional third-mission roles. Through two case studies, this study found that teaching, research, and engagement should not be separated, since they can serve both economic and social missions. As a result, a new model of multidextrous universities is proposed where universities meet both economic and social missions through teaching, research, and engagement. Contrary to previous contributions which presented universities as ambidextrous organizations where tension appears only between research commercialization and research publication or between teaching and research, this study suggests that universities need to overcome tensions and incorporate a sense of place in all activities to successfully contribute to regional growth.

Chinese multinationals post-merger integration evolutions in developed markets from autonomy to actual-form integration: a lens of ambidexterity

PurposeThis paper aims to examine how Chinese multinational enterprises’ (CMNEs) autonomy-style post-merger integration (PMI) modes of managing developed-market targets evolve into actual-form integration through the lens of ambidexterity.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts multi-case comparisons with content analysis. A data set was collected from 37 conversations by in-depth interviewing 29 respondents regarding four cases of Chinese acquisitions in the German market.FindingsThis study develops a three-stage framework that theorised CMNEs’ autonomy PMIs’ evolution to actual-form integration over time and the effect on acquisition value based on structural, temporal and contextual ambidexterity manifestations. The findings divide the evolutionary trajectory into two sub-trajectories, from great autonomy to autonomy-integration balanced or full integration, to illuminate the effect of different degrees of actual-form integration on value creation or value destruction.Originality/valueThe existing literature on CMNEs’ PMI discovered that CMNEs frequently grant ample autonomy when managing targets acquired from developed markets. However, long-term acquisition benefit is dependent on combining autonomy and actual-form integration; insights into how this can be accomplished are limited. The research is unique in that it reveals the evolutions of CMNEs’ PMIs on developed-market targets, from autonomy to actual-form integration through the lens of ambidexterity.

Ambidextrous Meta-Organizing for Tackling Grand Challenges: Insights from Cairo’s Housing Crisis

Making grand challenges seemingly intractable problems are difficulties to pursue goals that are jointly desirable, but which paradoxically have incompatible requirements. To further our understanding of the intricacies of overcoming this duality, this study examines foreign aid projects set up to tackle the housing crisis in Cairo, one of the world’s fastest-growing megacities. To be effective, aid needs to quickly fill pressing gaps in basic infrastructure whilst helping to build robust institutions. But there is a duality in that it is hard to pursue both goals simultaneously because of the time it takes to get the power holders to agree to policy reforms. By deploying an organizational ambidexterity lens, I uncover a process by which three mechanisms are deployed concomitantly to go around the tensions caused by contradictory goals: ‘temporal’ ambidexterity, where one goal is tackled at a time; ‘structural’ ambidexterity, where the focus is on one goal at the expense of the other; and ‘contextual’ ambidexterity, where there is an effort to realize synergies between the tasks of the other two mechanisms to tackle both goals simultaneously. After discussing the boundary conditions for the realisation of meta-organizational ambidexterity, I conclude with a discussion on implications to management scholarship on spurring action after mobilizing broad support for a common goal.

Never have a crisis like COVID-19

Current circumstances caused by COVID-19 pandemic pose a unique challenge to businesses. How could businesses survive? What strategic options do businesses have when they effectively engage such a challenge? Delving into the inquiry, we explore and investigate different strategic approaches to measure their effectiveness. For the study’s explorative and investigative purposes, our investigation involves a set of tests at both business and corporate levels. Using 224 responses from the leaders and key individuals of Korean startups, we tested the effectiveness of strategic options using the notion of ambidexterity and alliances, and mergers and acquisitions. Using the ambidexterity lens, we found exploitation and exploration indirectly affect firm performances and are still effective under COVID-19. We also found “reinforcing the relationship with existing alliances,” a corporate-level approach, to be effective.

Role and Applicability of the Constructs “Readiness for Change” and “Capacity for Change”

Readiness for change is amongst the major factors influencing the success of change initiatives in organizations. The construct is multifaceted and usually refers to the commitment (of employees) and belief (shared by the group, organization) in their collective capability to implement a specific change initiative. Applying the dynamic capabilities and organizational ambidexterity lens, some researchers suggest a different construct – organizational capacity for change. The capacity for change refers to the successful implementation of multiple, often overlapping change initiatives, and thus allows organizations to simultaneously achieve short-term, operational tasks and long-term, strategic goals. The capacity for change describes the appropriate organizational context, leadership, organizational learning and takes into account previous experience with changes and the extent to which these are considered fair and personally beneficial by employees. Readiness and capacity for change are not always clearly distinguishable and, in some cases, appear as interchangeable terms denoting similar phenomena. This conceptual article explores the two constructs based on a theoretical study of conceptual and empirical studies. The research conclusions support the proposition that the two constructs share similarities but also differences, which justify their distinct roles in deepening our understanding of change in organizations and how to manage and successfully implement it.

An Innovative Ambidexterity Typology of Filipino Agripreneurs and Its Implications for Regional Development Policies

The innovative ambidexterity lens classifies agripreneurs as having exploratory, exploitative, or ambidextrous postures.Exploratory agripreneurs exhibit fast and radical innovative behavior, exploitative agripreneurs slow and incremental innovative behavior, whereas ambidextrous agripreneurs are in between. This article proposes a typology of Filipino agripreneurs based on four dimensions of innovative ambidexterity. Data on one hundred and seventy-four (174) Filipino agripreneurs from administrative regions in the Philippines, were derived from the 2013 to 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Adult Population Surveys (GEM-APS) and analyzed using unsupervised K-means. Three clusters of Filipino agripreneurs emerged: (1) generally exploratory; (2) purely exploitative; and (3) mixed ambidextrous. Based on the results, many of the highly exploratory agripreneurs came from the Southern Mindanao and Caraga regions. A closer look at the formal, and informal institutional support in these regions reveals an enabling environment from government agencies in the aforementioned regions. Meanwhile, most of the mixed ambidextrous agripreneurs were from Ilocos, Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan (MIMAROPA), Northern Mindanao, Southern Mindanao, Central Mindanao, and Caraga. One commonality among these regions was their all having international airports, which is important to facilitate the transport of products to Manila and international markets. As a recommendation, regional development policies must aim to develop agripreneurs with exploratory, as well as ambidextrous postures. An enabling formal and informal institutional environment (i.e., economic, technological, natural, and political-legal factors, as well as, networks) must be put in place at the regional level for these innovative postures to be developed and for innovations in agripreneurship to be accelerated in the country.

A longitudinal micro-foundational investigation into ambidextrous practices in an international alliance context–A case of a biopharma EMNE

Abstract This paper explores the development of an ambidextrous context in a rapidly growing emerging market multinational (EMNE), thus unbundling cultural and structural complexities. We use the micro-foundational lens of ambidexterity to explore and identify different processes, structures and mechanisms that underpin the development of ambidextrous practices in the EMNE. We adopt a longitudinal case study design to trace the evolution of the EMNE, which during the initial phases of its existence focused on supplying industrial enzymes and refined its technical base. In subsequent years, it exploited its technical base to emerge as a full-fledged biopharmaceutical EMNE and adopted strategic partnerships with international companies to explore new knowledge. Our novel and rich research context also provides us with insights on how this EMNE exploited its technological knowledge, whilst utilizing strategic alliances to simultaneously engage in exploratory activities. Through the micro-foundational lens of ambidexterity, we uncover the critical role played by its leadership in addressing paradoxical tensions for simultaneously managing exploitation and exploration in an international strategic alliance context.

International cultural ambidexterity: Balancing tensions of foreign market entry into distant and proximate cultures

Abstract Today’s internationalization challenges are no longer limited to dealing with cultural differences in bilateral interactions between a company’s headquarters and its subsidiary. Instead, companies need to simultaneously manage a portfolio of subsidiaries that can be culturally close or distant to each other. Existing literature has so far been slow at conceptualizing and measuring this phenomenon. Drawing on portfolio logic and an ambidexterity lens, we introduce the concept of international cultural ambidexterity (ICA) as a company’s dynamic capability to manage a portfolio of both culturally distant (exploration) and culturally proximate (exploitation) foreign markets. Developing ICA allows companies to benefit from cultural diversity and cultural distance and to better manage tensions arising from internationalization. We highlight differences between cultural distance, cultural diversity and ICA. Subsequently, we introduce a novel way of measuring ICA that extends studies on culture and ambidexterity in foreign market entry research.

Share or send and receive? The impact of team knowledge outflow/inflow with IT support on performance

PurposeAn organization can be understood as a knowledge network in which teams send and receive knowledge. Many studies have explored knowledge sharing across teams but did not consider the direction of knowledge flows (KF), specifically how the knowledge inflow (KIF) and knowledge outflow (KOF) can be induced and influence team activities differently. To fill this gap, this paper distinguishes between KIF and KOF, examines their antecedents and consequences and considers how KIF and KOF within a team moderate the relationship between antecedents and KF of a team.Design/methodology/approachThis study used structural equation model analysis of a sample of 341 individuals within 73 teams from four companies.FindingsThe results suggest that IT support is essential because it influences both KIF and KOF. However, only KOF has a significant effect on team performance suggesting that ambidexterity is not always necessary. In promoting KOF, increasing task interdependency is also effective. The effect of IT support varies with the level of KIF diversity.Originality/valueThe findings emphasize the importance of distinguishing KOF from KIF in a team’s knowledge network under the theoretical lens of ambidexterity. Identifying how IT support influences KF and how these flows separately affect team performance can provide useful insights into managing and facilitating KF in an organization.

Ambidexterity in External Knowledge Search Strategies and Innovation Performance: Mediating Role of Balanced Innovation and Moderating Role of Absorptive Capacity

The importance of external knowledge acquisition for innovation by firms is well established. In particular, there has been an increasing focus on the two distinct modes of firms’ external search strategies, which have a differential effect on their learning and innovation: search breadth and depth. By applying organizational ambidexterity lens, we hypothesize that pursuing high levels of both external search strategies is beneficial to achieve a balance between exploitative and explorative innovation, which, in turn, has a positive impact on the firm’s innovation performance. We also hypothesize that, even among the firms that maintain high levels of both search strategies, firms with higher absorptive capacity better achieve a balance between both modes of innovation, thereby producing higher performance. The findings on a multi-industry sample of Koran manufacturing firms confirm our hypotheses and imply that it is essential for firms to develop capabilities for different modes of external search activities in conjunction with internal absorptive capacity for superior innovation performance.

Miles and Snow’s strategic typology redux through the lens of ambidexterity

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to link firms’ strategic archetypes as formulated by Miles and Snow (1978) to the more recent literature on organizational ambidexterity. Examining these obvious linkages, the paper also addresses how these firms address their entrepreneurial, engineering and administrative problem domains in relationship with the firm’s strategic archetype.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 503 firms across the US. Measures previously validated were used to collect information related to the strategic archetype as well as the three problem domains. Multiple discriminant and regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses.FindingsMost of the hypotheses relating the entrepreneurial (exploration and exploitation), engineering (radical and incremental innovation) and administrative problem (adaptation and alignment) to the four strategic archetypes (defender, prospector, analyzer and reactor) were supported. Additionally, the authors found that the firms that had the closest alignment along the three problem domains outperformed the other firms.Originality/valueAlthough the Miles and Snow typology has received considerable research attention, the obvious links with more contemporary research on organizational ambidexterity has been neglected. Through this integration, with more recent key strategic management concepts, this paper shows the utility and current relevance of the Miles and Snow archetypes.

Entrepreneurial bricolage, ambidexterity structure, and new venture growth: Evidence from the hospitality and tourism sector

• This study investigates the links among entrepreneurial bricolage, organizational ambidexterity, and new venture growth. • Data were collected from 345 entrepreneurs involved with new H&T ventures in China. • Findings show that entrepreneurial bricolage positively affects new venture growth. • The combined and balanced dimension of ambidexterity play mediating roles between entrepreneurial bricolage and growth performance. This study aims to investigate the links between entrepreneurial bricolage, ambidexterity structure, and new venture growth in the Chinese hospitality and tourism industry. Survey data were collected from 345 entrepreneurs involved with new hospitality and tourism ventures in China. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses of this study. The results indicate that both the combined and balanced dimensions of ambidexterity play mediating roles between entrepreneurial bricolage and new venture growth performance. By exploring the underlying mechanism of the relationship between entrepreneurial bricolage and new venture growth in the hospitality and tourism sector using a comprehensive theoretical model viewed through the lens of ambidexterity, the theoretical and practical implications for management are addressed, and possible directions for future research are discussed.

Understanding the emergence of redistributed manufacturing: an ambidexterity perspective

This paper extends operations strategy theory on efficiency and flexibility trade-offs to the emergent phenomenon of redistributed manufacturing (RDM). The study adopts a multiple-case design including five small and five large pharmaceutical firms. We propose that organizations can gain the efficiency benefits of centralized manufacturing and the flexibility advantages of RDM by building an ambidexterity capability. To build such a capability, large firms can structurally partition their manufacturing and supply management functions, with one sub-unit managing centralized production and the other RDM. Smaller enterprises can build an ambidexterity capability by creating the right organizational context, where multi-skilled workers switch between efficient and flexible tasks. This paper contributes to theory by explaining the emergence of RDM using an organizational ambidexterity lens, laying the groundwork for new theory development in the field. We provide managers with a practical example of how to build an ambidexterity capability to realize flexibility and efficiency advantages.

Could the Adoption of Organizational Ambidexterity Have Changed the History of Nokia?

Nokia, more than a century-old company, rose to stardom as the market leader for mobile phones in the 1990s and continued to be so until the early 2000s. Thereafter, the decline of Nokia started. The firm had to sell many of its assets and its mobile phone division to Microsoft. It later became a truncated company and ultimately faded into oblivion. Management and academic experts have analysed the reason for the failure of Nokia from various dimensions. The present work analyses Nokia’s failure from the viewpoint of organizational ambidexterity (OA). OA is defined as the ‘ability to simultaneously explore and exploit, enabling a firm to succeed at adaption over time rather than pursuing limited activities’. This can be considered as the first attempt to analyse the failure of Nokia through the lens of ambidexterity. It is concluded with compelling evidence that the story of Nokia would have been different had it followed exploitation and exploration simultaneously.

Employee safety priority: When is the rate of work-related driving accidents lower?

We challenge the employee safety theory using an ambidexterity lens. We investigate which situation leads to a lower number of work-related road accidents: a single-priority situation focused on road safety, or a dual-priority situation in which both road safety and customer service are priorities. Employee safety theory puts forward an ‘either-or’ approach in which employee safety must be the first priority above and beyond all others. In contrast, the ambidexterity theory’s ‘both\and’ approach suggests a simultaneously coexistence of priorities. We bridge this gap between the theories by referring to the type of relationship that exists between distinct and contradictory priorities. A ‘both\and’ relationship is associated with best performance when the priorities are interdependent and mutually enabling. However, if the relationship between priorities is of a preventive nature, as in the case of safety and customer service, the ‘either-or’ approach is associated with better performance. Thus, we hypothesize that work-related road accidents would be lower in a safety-first, single-priority situation compared to a dual-priority situation encompassing both road safety and customer service. Results from forty- three units in three organizations that make intensive use work-related driving support our hypothesis. We discuss the theoretical implications for employee safety and ambidexterity theories and the practical aspects of our results.

A framework for understanding managerial responses to supply chain complexity

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of supply chain complexity and extend this with literature developed within the project domain. The authors use the lens of ambidexterity (the ability both to exploit and explore) to analyse responses to complexity, since this enables the authors to understand the application of known solutions in conjunction with innovative ones to resolve difficulties. This research also seeks to investigate how managers respond to supply chain complexities that can either be operationally deleterious or strategically beneficial.Design/methodology/approachThe authors develop a descriptive framework based on the project management (PM) literature to understand response options to complexity, and then use interviews with supply chain managers in six organisations to examine the utility of this framework in practice. The authors ask the research question “How do managers in supply chains respond to complexities”?FindingsThe case study data show first that managers faced with structural, socio-political, or emergent supply chain complexities use a wide range of responses. Second, over a third of the instances of complexity coded were actually accommodated, rather than reduced, by the study firms, suggesting that adapting to supply chain complexity in certain instances may be strategically appropriate. Third, the lens of ambidexterity allows a more explicit assessment of whether existing PM solutions can be considered or if novel methods are required to address supply chain complexities.Practical implicationsThe descriptive framework can aid managers in conceptualising and addressing supply chain complexity. Through exploiting current knowledge, managers can lessen the impact of complexity while exploring other innovative approaches to solve new problems and challenges that evolve from complexity growth driven by business strategy.Originality/valueThis study addresses a gap in the literature through the development of a framework which provides a structure on ways to address supply chain complexity. The authors evaluate an existing project complexity concept and demonstrate that it is both applicable and valuable in non-project, ongoing operations. The authors then extend it using the lens of ambidexterity, and develop a framework that can support practitioners in analysing and addressing both strategically necessary supply complexities, together with unwanted, negative complexities within the organisation and across the supply chain.

Better at Home, Abroad, Or Both? How Chinese Firms use Ambidextrous Internationalization Strategies to Drive Innovation

Purpose Existing research emphasized that Chinese firms gain experience and improve innovation capability through interaction with competitors at home (i.e., inside-out internationalization) and abroad (i.e., outside-in internationalization). However, how Chinese firms transform these experiences into different types of innovation (product vs. process) is largely unknown. The present study (1) analyzes how different internationalization trajectories lead to different types of innovation, (2) establishes how Chinese firms use ambidextrous strategies to combine inside-out and outside-in internationalization, and 3) provides empirical evidence of how ambidextrous strategies might influence performance. Design/methodology/approach This study uses (1) a case research method to refine the classification of firms’ internationalization strategy types, (2) a qualitative textual analysis of firms’ annual reports to differentiate between product and process innovation and to estimate these firms’ international performance, and (3) an inductive approach to derive testable propositions from the literature review and empirical cases. Findings This study provides evidence that many Chinese firms follow an inside-out approach to internationalization and primarily focus on process innovation. At the same time, those firms that implement ambidextrous internationalization strategies develop both product and process innovations and appear to exhibit higher performance. Research limitations/implications This study’s focus on understanding what drives different types of innovation of Chinese firms is important as these firms often struggle to accomplish the dual tasks of competing both at home and abroad with innovation-driven domestic and foreign rivals. Applying an ambidexterity perspective to the context of internationalization strategy makes it possible to reconcile the need to simultaneously implement both outside-in and inside-out strategies and to achieve higher performance results. Further empirical research is required to confirm and generalize this study’s findings. Practical implications Managers are advised to assess which internationalization path would be optimal under a given set of conditions. Further, they should balance their internationalization strategies with respect to innovation types. Foreign multinationals may learn from Chinese firms how to develop ambidextrous internationalization strategies. Originality/value This study applies the ambidexterity lens and differentiates between product and process innovation to explore how different types of internationalization strategies affect product vs. process innovation, as well as firm performance. The empirical evidence provided in this paper is based on original data from 30 Chinese companies and two in-depth case studies. This study provides novel insights into how different trajectories could be combined through ambidextrous strategies.

A Contemporary Examination Of The Miles & Snow Strategic Typology Through The Lens Of Ambidexterity

Utilizing the lens of ambidexterity, the authors studied 503 diverse firms to determine how they address their entrepreneurial, engineering, and administrative problem domains and their association with firms’ strategic archetype as presented in Miles and Snow’ (1978) strategic typology. Findings suggest that consistency matters. Firms consistent in their approach to the various domains outperformed those that were less consistent. The results demonstrate the enduring value of the Miles and Snow’s (1978) seminal work. Additionally, the inclusion of ambidexterity as a dynamic capability furthers the explanatory power of the typology.