Contextual Ambidexterity Research Articles

Strategic enablers of service-sales ambidexterity: A preliminary framework and research agenda

In recent years, service-sales ambidexterity was proposed as a new type of ambidexterity. In particular, the emerging literature on service-sales ambidexterity builds on the contextual ambidexterity literature to argue that the two key activities of a salesperson – that is, service activities and sales activities – can be simultaneously maximized through finding and exploiting synergies between these two activities. While research in this area has so far focused on the drivers of service-sales ambidexterity, our knowledge regarding the strategic enablers of this construct is impoverished. In this paper, drawing upon the dynamic capabilities framework, we devise a preliminary framework of the strategic enablers of service-sales ambidexterity. Then, we further extend that framework by identifying key classes of strategic variables that can potentially enable service-sales ambidexterity and by providing illustrative examples. This paper has contributions to and implications for the literature on service-sales ambidexterity and dynamic capabilities.

Blended ambidexterity: The copresence of modes of ambidexterity in William Demant Holding

Research identifies different modes of ambidexterity (sequential, contextual and structural ambidexterity) that, however, are implicitly seen as mutually exclusive. Accordingly, the copresence of structural and contextual ambidexterity modes—here called “blended ambidexterity”—has been given little attention, although it may be characteristic of (some) companies and may be a deliberate choice. To establish that blended ambidexterity is an empirically meaningful phenomenon and to gain insight into its causes, organizational context and consequences, we undertook a detailed study of two business units in William Demant Holding, a leading company in the medical devices industry. Our findings suggest that blended ambidexterity 1) is a meaningful empirical phenomenon; which 2) can manifest in different ways (i.e., characteristic elements of contextual and structural ambidexterity may be configured in different ways); 3) is supported by formal and informal organization; 4) is associated with different innovation outcomes, depending on how it is configured; 5) may have distinct advantages in terms of overcoming limitations of each mode; but 6) also gives rise to distinct management challenges.

Stakeholder dynamics of contextual ambidextrous capabilities and authenticity: A conceptual synchronisation for competitive advantage

The combined effect of strategic ambidextrous management (dynamic capabilities and contextual ambidexterity), marketing and brand communication management has been implicitly and explicitly identified as bearing critical implications for competitive advantage. However, the mutual influence of these knowledge streams on competitive advantage as well as its key component of contextual ambidexterity are much under-researched. This article follows an inductive constructivist method to develop a theoretically founded conceptualisation of the means through which the various stakeholder contextual ambidextrous dynamic capabilities can leverage the organisational authenticity learning process in cross-functional management to explore and exploit new competitive advantage scopes. Specifically, this research proposes a theoretically synchronised conceptual framework that focuses on identified key attributes of the knowledge streams, interlinking their individual and combined influences on brand positioning and corporate reputation for the creation of competitive advantage. Scholarly and empirical implications are also presented along with future research avenues.

Bridging Organizational Context and Individual-Level Cognition to Explain Individual Ambidexterity

Research on contextual ambidexterity points to the need for individuals to autonomously integrate exploration and exploitation. To date, research has either focused on antecedents in the social context or on individual-level antecedents. We integrate these two perspectives by using Social Cognitive Theory as a vintage point. We segment contextual antecedents into proximal and distal social context and illustrate how these two interact to influence individual ambidexterity through shaping the individual-level congitive basis of autonomous agentic behavior. Building on primary, multi-source data of 245 employees from a large Central European Company we find strong support for our model. With our research, we illuminate the syntax of causal mechanisms from the social context and individual-level.

Synergistic Partners: How HRM and Leadership Climate Shape Employees’ Ambidextrous Behavior

Recent advancements in ambidexterity research suggest that HRM plays a vital role in shaping contextual ambidexterity. Building on paradox theory and social information processing theory, the present study extends this literature by putting the spotlight on two fundamental, yet often implicit assumptions of contextual ambidexterity. First, we examine how HRM practices that are specifically designed to promote ambidextrous cues (i.e., ambidexterity-oriented HRM [A-HRM] practices) are related to contextual ambidexterity. Second, we address the premise that such HRM practices actually affect all employees in an organization. In addition, we introduce transformational leadership (TFL) climate as a critical boundary condition that helps to translate paradoxical signals of A-HRM practices to the employees. We tested these relationships in a multi-source sample of 16,740 employees from 94 organizations and found support for the proposed interaction effect of A-HRM and TFL climate on employees’ ambidextrous behavior and, in turn, organizational performance (i.e., indirect effects). Our study contributes to a better understanding of creating contextual ambidexterity and the important role of leaders in the implementation of A-HRM practices.

PARADOXICAL TENSION: BALANCING CONTEXTUAL AMBIDEXTERITY

AbstractThe concepts of high-velocity, complexity and interdependency are nowadays vividly discussed in design-led innovation management. Design organisations seek to manage innovation in a more dynamic way to ensure competitive advantage and long-term competitiveness. Contextual ambidexterity is advised to be a dynamic capability that can facilitate firms to effectively manage incremental and radical innovation alike. This paper proposes an approach that focuses on the individual and the underlying thinking which bases its foundations on ambidextrous leadership, abductive reasoning and strategic fit.

Facilitating Efficiency and Flexibility Ambidexterity in Project-Based Organizations: An Exploratory Study of Organizational Antecedents

Through an exploratory multiple-case study in the context of project-based organizations in China, this study aims to identify the antecedents that facilitate three prevalent types of ambidexterity, namely, structural, sequential, and contextual ambidexterity. To understand and theorize on this phenomenon, seven case studies with 76 qualitative interviews were held. The results show that unpredictable and changing environments set the enabling context for ambidexterity, whereas design choices involving dimensions of structure, processes, empowerment, rewards, and human resource policies serve as structural antecedents. The managers and employees who respectively behave in supportive and initiative ways ultimately trigger different types of ambidexterity.

Rethinking contextual ambidexterity through parallel structures

This paper offers an alternative perspective on achieving contextual ambidexterity in organizations. Building on a collaborative research project within Renault’s Innovation Department, we identified that the corporate Fab Lab acted as a parallel structure in support of contextual ambidexterity. These findings provide three main contributions. First, we locate a source of contextual ambidexterity outside of the traditional business unit. In doing so, we challenge the dominant focus on managers, and show that, despite non‐supportive contexts, employees can demonstrate ambidextrous skills through individual autonomous initiatives and bootlegging behaviors. Second, we delineate four key functions and related features – spatial, technical, methodological, and cultural – of parallel structures that nurture contextual ambidexterity. Finally, we recommend that the facilitation of a parallel structure should combine both flexibility and stability.

Carving out New Business Models in a Small Company through Contextual Ambidexterity: The Case of a Sustainable Company

Business model innovation (BMI) and organizational ambidexterity have been pointed out as mechanisms for companies achieving sustainability. However, especially considering small and medium enterprises (SMEs), there is a lack of studies demonstrating how to combine these mechanisms. Tackling such a gap, this study seeks to understand how SMEs can ambidextrously manage BMI. Our aim is to provide a practical artifact, accessible to SMEs, to operationalize BMI through organizational ambidexterity. To this end, we conducted our study under the design science research to, first, build an artifact for operationalizing contextual ambidexterity for business model innovation. Then, we used an in-depth case study with a vegan fashion small e-commerce to evaluate the practical outcomes of the artifact. Our findings show that the company improves its business model while, at the same time, designs a new business model and monetizes it. Thus, our approach was able to take the first steps in the direction of operationalizing contextual ambidexterity for business model innovation in small and medium enterprises, democratizing the concept. We contribute to theory by connecting different literature strands and to practice by creating an artifact to assist management.

Business Innovation, Service Innovation, Industry 4.0 and Making Indonesia 4.0: Perspective on Industrial Engineering

Business innovation is deemed an important factor for sustainable competitive advantages. The mentioned important factors are vis à vis not merely product, but also service. Subsequently, this paper elaborates service innovation within ambidexterity approach that comprises two considerations of exploitation and exploration. The exploitation refers to the continuous improvement of the existing activities in companies. Meanwhile, the exploration refers to the breakthrough of new frontier activities in companies that are needed for the company to gain sustainable competitive advantages. Both exploitation and exploration are supported by the theoretical approach and its empirical implementation within companies’ sustainable competitive advantages, through grand theory within industrial engineering discipline. This paper elaborates the service innovation that is deemed as antecedents for both financial and nonfinancial performance in the banking industry in Indonesia. The focus of the banking industry in this paper refers to the area of DKI Jakarta, as the center of technology in its capacity as the capital city of Indonesia. The theoretical approach is subsequently implemented through Industry 4.0 that covers trilogy of physical, digital, and biology. Furthermore, the mentioned implementation is aimed at the benefits of Making Indonesia 4.0 with the Indonesia local wisdom and setting. Precisely, it covers focused sectors: food and beverages; textile; automotive; chemical; and electronic. Ultimately, it refers to an action plan as quick wins in term of technology incentive; investor roadshow; vocational education; and innovation center, along with its support for small-medium enterprise.
 Keywords: banking industry; contextual ambidexterity; exploration service innovation; exploitation service innovation; financial performance; structural ambidexterity

Does parenting matter in subsidiary innovation in emerging economies? Exploring the role of parent superior competitiveness in affecting subsidiary contextual ambidexterity

Parenting in the multinational enterprises (MNEs) creates a dilemma when parent company manages the subsidiary contextual ambidexterity, in which parent superior competitiveness may nurture subsidiary exploitation while inhibit exploration. This study addresses this dilemma by developing an integrated framework and investigating how parent superior competitiveness affects the subsidiary contextual ambidexterity (innovation initiative and motivation of learning from the parent), which in turn increases subsidiary innovation performance. Furthermore, it is also examined that what tactics subsidiaries should take to resolve the dilemma. Using 296 survey responses from multiple informants of 111 subsidiaries in China, we find that parent superior competitiveness hinders subsidiary innovation initiative, but enhances subsidiary motivation of learning from the parent company. The negative effect of parent superior competitiveness on subsidiary innovation initiative becomes weaker when the strengths of subsidiary external tie and parent-subsidiary communication are enhanced. The positive effect of parent superior competitiveness on subsidiary motivation of learning is strengthened by subsidiary external tie, whereas no significant effect is found of parent-subsidiary communication. In addition, subsidiary innovation initiative contributes to subsidiary innovation performance through knowledge exploration and subsidiary motivation of learning from the parent positively affects innovation performance.

Empowering leadership and contextual ambidexterity – The mediating role of committed leadership for continuous improvement

Organisations nowadays try to be ambidextrous, that is, to balance exploitation and exploration, at the level of the organisational unit, or even at the individual level. Recent studies found that important drivers for contextual ambidexterity are a high level of empowerment and an orientation towards continuous improvement (CI) and innovation. It is, therefore, to be expected that empowering leadership and leader commitment to CI are associated with contextual ambidexterity. However, literature about the relationships between empowering leadership, committed leadership for CI and contextual ambidexterity is scant. Based on two separate survey studies, we validated both the relationship between empowering leadership and contextual ambidexterity, and the mediating effect of committed leadership for CI in the organisational unit level and the individual level. The managerial implications of this research is that organisations that want to facilitate contextual ambidexterity should not only empower employees so that they can decide more independently on how to organise their time and make choices when they conduct exploratory activities and when they perform exploitative activities. Management must also act as committed ambassadors for CI, as CI functions as an integration mechanism to create both alignment and adaptability, and hence contextual ambidexterity.

Project management methods as a way to ambidexterity

Purpose Ambidexterity has been shown to contribute to project performance. Recent studies of ambidexterity on the project level focus on multilevel knowledge resources, individual actions and structural ambidexterity. However, the role of project management methods remains unclear. This is surprising because project management methods are broadly disseminated as standards. The purpose of this paper is to theorize how project management methods affect ambidexterity on the project level. Design/methodology/approach It is demonstrated how routine theory adds to a better theoretical conceptualization and understanding of project management methods. The analysis of this paper contains, first, the reconstruction of the contribution of each action in “Scrum” to either exploitation or exploration and, second, the discussion of roles in Scrum. To conclude, a “big picture” of what ambidexterity in projects can look like is developed. Findings The main findings suggest that Scrum facilitates sequential and contextual ambidexterity by producing a pattern of alternating exploitation and exploration actions and by assigning specific roles. Practical implications For practitioners this leads to steps they can take to enhance ambidexterity in projects. It is suggested to staff explicitly ambidexterity-related roles like a Scrum Master and to persist on explorative actions like adaption of project goals and Customer Feedback. Originality/value First, the present paper contributes an analysis of the underlying micro-mechanisms of sequential and contextual ambidexterity in projects. Second, it informs practitioners on what aspects of project management methods they should pay attention to.

BPM and change management

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to focus on the implementation of an ambidexterity strategy in a large Italian Company that works in the energy field. The aim of the study is to understand how contextual ambidexterity has been achieved during a business process management (BPM) approach by describing the main variables that interacted during the project implementation.Design/methodology/approachThe authors based their study both on primary (direct observation and interviews) and secondary (company manuals, books and procedures) qualitative investigations of BPM approach based on three business process re-engineering (BPR) projects and nine total quality management (TQM) projects, focused on change team behaviors, dynamics and dialogues.FindingsThe authors observed that the implementation of simultaneously radical and incremental change projects has been influenced by the exploration and exploitation activities related to every single TQM and BPR project considered. The findings suggest that the overall project has been influenced by four main underlying variables, which are task specialization and systems interoperability (knowledge transfer), identity and leadership (knowledge conversion) and two output variables (ambiguity and feedback to change), that, by interacting, enable ambidexterity.Research limitations/implicationsBPM is an important option to consider within the ambidexterity theory, being conceptually conceived as an approach in which TQM and BPR actually complement each other. Moreover, the results contextualize the importance of the change management team (CMT) to manage the connections between knowledge creation and refinement, and vice versa, depending particularly on the knowledge conversion process enabled by a flexible team culture. The focus of the study is mainly at the BPR and TQM project level. The authors consider structural ambidexterity and its enabling mechanisms as the framework in which BPM is implemented. Moreover, research limitations are related both to the specificity of the context, a large, highly specialized and mechanistic company and to the qualitative approach that may reduce the generalization of the empirical results.Practical implicationsManagers need to be cognizant and aware both of the BPM techniques, in order to sustain ambidexterity, and of ambiguity and change feedback as variables that enable the effective connection of the different steps of innovation or refinement strategy and, therefore, of ambidexterity. Moreover, the contextual factors such as leadership and people identity should be considered and managed as important variables related to change.Originality/valueThe originality of this paper is related to improving the understanding of how to implement the theoretical concept of ambidexterity in a real world organization, by providing new evidence that highlights the importance of contextual ambidexterity within a structural ambidexterity strategy during a BPM project.

Partnering to create IT-based value: A contextual ambidexterity approach

Going beyond the boundary of the firm and traditional notions of how IT contributes to value creation, scholars have started to investigate under what conditions, in what ways, and with which results firms can co-create IT-based value. However, we lack comprehensive insights into how firms can develop such collaborative partnerships and the types of value they create at different stages of the process. Using a qualitative case study, we analyze in detail how a mining company, a manufacturer of mining machinery, and an IT provider developed a joint venture over a ten-year period. Drawing on ambidexterity theory, we show how the three firms successfully built a context that encouraged alignment of interests and allowed the participants to adapt to emerging conditions as they collaborated to create IT-based value. Moreover, we uncover the different types of value they created over the various stages of developing the collaboration. As a result, we contribute to the literature on IT-based value co-creation with insights into how inter-firm collaboration can be developed to create different types of IT-based value. In addition, we advance contextual ambidexterity theory by demonstrating how it applies to developing new partnerships between firms.

Innovation climate mediating complexity leadership and ambidexterity

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between complexity leadership and contextual ambidexterity as well as the mediating effect of organisational innovation climate in this link. This study is an answer to a call on which leadership approach and mediating factors can meet today’s seemingly contradictory challenges of efficiently managing business demands, while simultaneously searching for new opportunities.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers analysed 1,204 usable survey responses from employees of South African organisations. Analysis was in the form of structural equation modelling. Mediation analysis was carried out on estimates of the indirect effect.FindingsResults show that complexity leadership was a strong predictor of innovation climate; in turn, innovation climate positively impacts exploratory innovation by 64 per cent; complexity leadership and innovation climate positively affect exploitation by 57 per cent. The innovation climate plays a total mediator role between complexity leadership and exploratory innovation and a partial effect on exploitation.Practical implicationsThis study gives human resource management (HRM) insight into strategically directing leadership recruitment and development towards creating an organisational climate to enhance ambidexterity. HRM must conduct regular climate surveys to ascertain whether current leadership is creating an environment that enables exploratory and exploitative innovation.Originality/valueThe authors’ contribution includes a theoretical contribution to the emerging field of complexity leadership by offering conceptual as well as empirical evidence of its role in ambidexterity. This study extends previous research in highlighting organisational climate’s mediating role of being open to new ideas to enable exploratory innovation.

Ambidexterity and Public Organizations: A Configurational Perspective

A general assumption in public sector research is that public organizations have to be efficient and innovative to overcome challenges such as demographic changes and digitization. This argument has been discussed in light of ambidexterity theory, for example. However, only little public sector research has focused on “how” public organizations reach ambidexterity. We take this question into account and focus on design and leadership conditions that are necessary or sufficient for ambidexterity. More precisely, the main question of this article is: Which combination of leadership and design conditions plays a role for ambidexterity in public organizations? We theoretically rely on the concept of ambidexterity, collected data in Belgian public cultural centers, and analyzed the data via the set-theoretic method Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). We can conclude from our analysis that six different combinations of design and leadership conditions were found to be sufficient for ambidexterity in our dataset. What is more is that public organizations combine design and leadership conditions of both structural and contextual ambidexterity to balance simultaneously exploitation and exploration. Hereby this article provides new theoretical and empirical insights and offers opportunities for further ambidexterity research in public organizations.

Building Innovative Leadership Capacity: A Perspective on How to Stabilize Exploration and Exploitation in the Railway Sector in Ghana

The purpose of this article is to suggest whether an ambidextrous organization can be created from the bottom up. This is achieved by incorporating studies on contextual ambidexterity and capacity building for individuals and organizations. The conceptualization of a capacity construction for innovation structure indicates how to maintain the equilibrium among both exploration and exploitation.This research is conceptual backed by interviews in the railway sector of Ghana, focusing on the connections between the two theoretical views, the benefits of the suggested structure for innovation and capacity building for management.The Innovation and Leadership Capacity Building Framework discusses the impact of ambidexterity on the rail sector, both positive and negative, and the interactions required, such as feedback between the management team and employees, so that they can build an ambidextrous working culture in the sector together. A culture where the individual worker is accountable for changing between exploration and exploitation operations and in which the leadership team empowers staff to be there. This research is focused on contextual ambidexterity and when to implement contextual ambidexterity as a manner of working in Ghana's rail industry. The originality resides in the suggested structure and can be enforced in the industry in the devoted focus on “how”. Keywords: Exploration-exploitation, Leadership, Organizational learning, Contextual Ambidexterity, Capacity Building, Railway Sector, Ghana DOI : 10.7176/EJBM/11-30-05 Publication date :October 31 st 2019

Opening Up the Black Box: A Contingent Dual-Process Model of Ambidexterity Emergence

While research on contextual ambidexterity has primarily focused on the role of individuals to host exploration-exploitation tensions, the emergence process linking ambidexterity at the individual level and at higher levels of analysis such as the team or organization has not been described. Integrating multilevel theory and the differentiation-integration view of ambidexterity, we suggest a contingent dual process model of ambidexterity emergence. In the case of composition, both integration and differentiation are taking place at the individual level, followed by convergence-based aggregation. In the case of compilation, differentiation takes place at the individual level, followed by divergence-based aggregation and integration at the group level. We further argue, that the relative success of composition and compilation emergence is moderated by the degree of integration mechanisms at the group level. Drawing on multi- informant survey data from 58 teams in a large Swiss insurance company, we find strong support for our theoretical arguments.

How to Make Exploratory Unit Ambidextrous? Navigating Contradictions of Exploration

Although exploratory units constitute a structural mechanism that buffer rigidity and inertia from firms’ core businesses, tensions and challenges may arise when there is a changing strategy at the corporate level that misaligned with the initial purpose of the unit. In this paper, we explain how managers in spatially separated exploration units of an organization deal with the conflicting requirements of exploring emerging industries and senior executives’ initiatives to align the organization around the temporal focus on restoration of core businesses. We uncover internal mechanisms that reveals how an exploratory unit become ambidextrous that enable them to maintain a strategic alignment with the main organization while ensuring required adaptability for exploration in emerging industries. Our findings draw on the longitudinal analysis of exploration activities of a business unit at a global telecommunication firm that responsible for pursuing opportunities in the emerging Internet of Things industry (IoT) between 2015 and 2019. This study contributes to extant literature by developing a link between contextual and structural ambidexterity at the business unit level, and particularly, by showing managerial approaches through which an organizational unit become ambidextrous.