Ambidextrous Management Research Articles

Ambidexterity and total quality management: towards a research agenda

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to expand on the existing theory of ambidexterity by analysing its implications for organisations that employ total quality management.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis of relevant theoretical and empirical studies on ambidexterity and total quality management enables us to reflect on the common elements, facilitating factors and synergy that exists between both fields.FindingsThanks to the synergy between its principles and practices, total quality management can act as a platform in creating an ambidextrous context, in addition to generating ambidextrous management capabilities and ambidextrous organisational skills. However, no relationship has been found between the application of TQM and structural ambidexterity.Research limitations/implicationsAn analysis of existing studies has enabled the extraction of some proposals which could be used in future research.Practical implicationsThe synergy between TQM principles and practices, their disparate influence on ambidexterity, the range and depth of applying TQM principles and practices – above all those that are included in a human context and the opening of new markets – means that these factors are key elements to bear in mind for those organisations that wish to maximise the potential of TQM in order to foster ambidexterity.Social implicationsGiven the extent to which this type of management has been applied over the last 20 years the social impact of this study is relevant.Originality/valueThis study opens up a new line of research into ambidexterity and, despite the subject having been analysed extensively in conceptual and empirical terms, until now its relationship with total quality management has yet remained unexplored.

The fast eat the slow – the impact of strategy and innovation timing on the success of technology-oriented ventures

This paper explores the role of the two dimensions of ambidextrous strategic management (exploration and exploitation) on technology-oriented ventures’ innovation and company level performance. Based on a representative sample of German venture capital backed technology start-ups from various innovative industries, we are able to provide support for the oft-stated assumption that the ambidexterity strategy positively influences performance. Results indicate that both explorative and exploitative activity add to the overall success of innovation projects, which consequently influence overall firm performance positively. Moreover, our data suggest that for technology-oriented ventures, the timing of the second innovation project after start-up, i.e., the point in time when ventures become potentially ambidextrous, plays a decisive role.

CONTINUOUS INNOVATION IN ENTREPRENEURIAL GROWTH COMPANIES: EXPLORING THE AMBIDEXTROUS STRATEGY

This paper applies ambidextrous management to entrepreneurial growth companies. Ambidexterity aims at overcoming organizational inertia that threatens organizational survival. The concept is typically applied to established corporations in order to cure existing inertia. However, ambidextrous management may also help to avoid the emergence of inertia in entrepreneurial growth companies. We therefore discuss ambidexterity against the background of entrepreneurial growth companies and reveal how it can be used to build sustainable organizations. Our reasoning is based on organization science and entrepreneurship theory; in doing so we derive two groups of theoretical propositions explaining the antecedents of emergence and the antecedents of success of ambidextrous management in entrepreneurial growth companies.

Understanding Variation in Managers' Ambidexterity: Investigating Direct and Interaction Effects of Formal Structural and Personal Coordination Mechanisms

Previous research focuses on firm and business unit level ambidexterity. Therefore, conceptual and empirically validated understanding about ambidexterity at the individual level of analysis is very scarce. This paper addresses this gap in the literature by investigating managers' ambidexterity, delivering three contributions to theory and empirical research on ambidexterity: first, by proposing three related characteristics of ambidextrous managers; second, by developing a model and associated hypotheses on both the direct and interaction effects of formal structural and personal coordination mechanisms on managers' ambidexterity; and third, by testing the hypotheses based on a sample of 716 business unit level and operational level managers. Findings regarding the formal structural mechanisms indicate that a manager's decision-making authority positively relates to this manager's ambidexterity, whereas formalization of a manager's tasks has no significant relationship with this manager's ambidexterity. Regarding the personal coordination mechanisms, findings indicate that both the participation of a manager in cross-functional interfaces and the connectedness of a manager to other organization members positively relate to this manager's ambidexterity. Furthermore, results show positive interaction effects between the formal structural and personal coordination mechanisms on managers' ambidexterity. The paper's theoretical contributions and empirical results increase our understanding about managers' ambidexterity and about how different types and combinations of coordination mechanisms relate to variation in managers' ambidexterity.

Knowledge Sharing Ambidexterity in Long-Term Interorganizational Relationships

Although past research has investigated the impact of exploration and exploitation on firm performance, there is limited research on these effects in interorganizational relationships. We examine whether the boundary condition for ambidextrous learning can be extended from firms to long-term interorganizational relationships. Specifically, we focus on a particular aspect of learning—namely, explorative and exploitative knowledge sharing—and examine its impact on the performance of long-term relationships. We also theorize how ambidextrous management of the relationship and ontological commitment to span the syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic knowledge boundaries between partners enable knowledge sharing. Our theoretical predictions are tested using data collected from both account managers at customer firms responsible for the relationship with a leading supply chain vendor and account managers at the vendor firm responsible for relationships with customers. The findings suggest that both exploratory and exploitative knowledge sharing lead to relationship performance gains, that such sharing is enabled by the ambidextrous management of the relationship, and that such sharing is facilitated by ontological commitment. Interesting differences in the enablers and consequences of both forms of knowledge sharing are detected between customers and the vendor.

Really changing the course: the limitations of environmental management systems for innovation

AbstractThe paper broadens the scope of environmental management system (EMS) research by describing how EMSs can contribute to inertia in present production systems. In conjunction with other factors this inertia can inhibit dramatic shifts toward more sustainable technologies and systems. Our approach builds upon technological lock‐in theory, which focuses on market coordination and technological interdependencies as generators of inertia in technological systems. Building on this framework, we call attention to previously under appreciated non‐market social forces and institutional structures that can further reinforce lock‐in. We argue that the co‐evolutionary mechanisms that generate increasing returns for physical technologies may also be applied to social technologies, such as management systems. The paper describes the emergence of ‘EMS lock‐in’ as a path dependent evolution occurring within the context of the larger quality management paradigm. While EMS may initially produce improvements in environmental performance, EMS may also constrain organizational focus to the exploitation of present production systems, rather than exploring for superior innovations that are discontinuous. The paper questions the enthusiastic private and public sector support for EMS implementation and instead recommends an ambidextrous management approach that integrates foresight and broader stakeholder collaboration. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.