Book ChapterDOI
Automation as Management of Paradoxical Tensions: The Role of Industrial Engineering
Francesco Virili,C Ghiringhelli +1 more
- Vol. 28, pp 7-21
TLDR
In this article, the introduction of an automated parcel sorting system in a major company in the logistic and parcel delivery industry was explored, and a grounded theory of ambidexterity in an automation enhancement program was presented.Abstract:
In this paper, we explored the introduction of an automated parcel sorting system in a major company in the logistic and parcel delivery industry. Adopting a Grounded Theory approach, we carried out a study that highlighted profound and unexpected organizational implications and management challenges connected to the introduction of the new technology. Our analysis revealed the key role of the Industrial Engineering function as a change agent in devising and managing the introduction of the automated system. In particular, Industrial Engineering actually managed the organizational change by determining the right balance between several opposite dimensions (manual vs. automated; planned vs. emergent; local vs. global). Handling these tensions with a holistic approach may constitute a crucial factor for the change program effectiveness. Contrasting our findings with extant literature, we found resonance with latest works on ambidexterity, interpreted as a firm’s ability to manage tensions. The resulting outcome is a substantive grounded theory of ambidexterity in an automation enhancement program.read more
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Posted Content
Structural Differentiation and Ambidexterity: The Mediating Role of Integration Mechanisms
TL;DR: The findings suggest that the previously asserted direct effect of structural differentiation on ambidexterity operates through informal senior team and formal organizational integration mechanisms, and contributes to a greater clarity and better understanding of how organizations may effectively pursue exploration and exploitation simultaneously to achieve ambideXterity.
Book ChapterDOI
Organizational Change and Learning: An Explorative Bibliometric-Based Literature Analysis
TL;DR: In this article, a literature investigation on organizational learning processes stemming from Organizational Change initiatives, based on SNA analysis of bibliometric data, is presented, where the intentionally open, incomplete and question-provoking research outcomes offered by this initial literature analysis represent a limit, from the other hand they may be seen as an opportunity to listen to the voice of the research community, to collect new ideas and suggestions before proceeding forward towards a better understanding of the fascinating phenomena at the intersection of organizational change and learning.
Journal ArticleDOI
Organizational change as tension management: a grounded theory
C Ghiringhelli,Francesco Virili +1 more
TL;DR: One of the first in-depth grounded theory analyses of tension management, this study contributes to the relatively recent debate on the recognition, analysis and handling of tensions and paradoxes in organizational change, suggesting innovative criteria for successful change management and identifying promising new avenues for research.
Journal ArticleDOI
Uncertainty and Emerging Tensions in Organizational Change: A Grounded Theory Study on the Orchestrating Role of the Change Leader
Francesco Virili,C Ghiringhelli +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze an automation project in a global parcel delivery company, as implemented in three parcel sorting hubs in two countries, seeking to identify key factors in successful change and the role of the change leader.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Ambidextrous Organizations: Managing Evolutionary and Revolutionary Change:
TL;DR: The ambidextrous organization as discussed by the authors is an organization that simultaneously pursues both incremental and discontinuous innovation, and adapts the culture and strategy of an organization to its current environment, but to do so in a way that does not undermine its ability to adjust to radical changes in that environment.
Journal ArticleDOI
Exploration vs. Exploitation: An Empirical Test of the Ambidexterity Hypothesis
Zi-Lin He,Poh Kam Wong +1 more
TL;DR: Based on a sample of 206 manufacturing firms, evidence is found consistent with the ambidexterity hypothesis by showing that the interaction between explorative and exploitative innovation strategies is positively related to sales growth rate and the relative imbalance betweenexploration and exploitation strategies is negatively related toSales growth rate.
Journal ArticleDOI
Something Old, Something New: A Longitudinal Study of Search Behavior and New Product Introduction
Riitta Katila,Gautam Ahuja +1 more
TL;DR: The authors examine how firms search, or solve problems, to create new products and find that firms position themselves in a unidimensional search space that spans a spectrum from local to distant search.
Journal ArticleDOI
The antecedents, consequences and mediating role of organizational ambidexterity
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated contextual organizational ambidexterity, defined as the capacity to simultaneously achieve alignment and adaptability at a business-unit level, and found that a context characterized by a combination of stretch, discipline, support, and trust facilitates contextual ambidextrousness.