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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.
Abstract: textPrior studies have emphasized that structural attributes are crucial to simultaneously pursuing exploration and exploitation, yet our understanding of antecedents of ambidexterity is still limited. Structural differentiation can help ambidextrous organizations to maintain multiple inconsistent and conflicting demands; however, differentiated exploratory and exploitative activities need to mobilized, coordinated, integrated, and applied. Based on this idea, we delineate formal and informal senior team integration mechanisms (i.e. contingency rewards and social integration) and formal and informal organizational integration mechanisms (i.e. cross-functional interfaces and connectedness) and examine how they mediate the relationship between structural differentiation and ambidexterity. Overall, our findings suggest that the previously asserted direct effect of structural differentiation on ambidexterity operates through informal senior team (i.e. senior team social integration) and formal organizational (i.e. cross-functional interfaces) integration mechanisms. Through this richer explanation and empirical assessment, we contribute to a greater clarity and better understanding of how organizations may effectively pursue exploration and exploitation simultaneously to achieve ambidexterity.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Despite a long history of independent sales and service functions within organizations, customers are pressuring organizations to rethink their Sales and Service operations as mentioned in this paper, and customers are demanding that organizations rethink their sales and services operations.
Abstract: Despite a long history of independent sales and service functions within organizations, customers are pressuring organizations to rethink their sales and service operations. Specifically, customers...

80 citations


Cites background from "Structural Differentiation and Ambi..."

  • ...In the context of ambidexterity, Jansen et al. (2009) argued that differentiation must be combined with senior team awards, senior team social integration, cross-functional interfaces, and connectedness in order to achieve effectiveness....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that the recent explosion of studies of exploration and exploitation tend to conceptualize and operationalize novelty quite narrowly, so this work treats novelty as a multidimensional construct and discusses implications of this approach for future research.
Abstract: The construct of novelty is an important primitive for theories of organization learning, strategic change, and innovation. The organizational pursuit of novelty is generally theorized as necessary for long-term organizational adaptation and survival yet variance increasing in the short term. We argue that the recent explosion of studies of exploration and exploitation tend to conceptualize and operationalize novelty quite narrowly. In contrast, we treat novelty as a multidimensional construct and discuss implications of this approach for future research.

80 citations


Cites background from "Structural Differentiation and Ambi..."

  • ...To wit, consider the Jansen et al. (2009) survey of executives in a random, multi-industry sample of 230 private firms....

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  • ...These organizational–technological pairings are examined in the analysis, as opposed to the more singular focus of Jansen et al. (2009) on their additive ambidexterity measure....

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  • ...Moreover, although both papers surveyed firm executives in random, multiindustry samples, differences such as private (Jansen et al. 2009) versus public (Rothaermel and Alexandre 2009) firms might need to accounted for by researchers aiming to build on these papers....

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  • ...…the frame of an organization’s search for knowledge with an orthogonal interpretation of explore–exploit, Rothaermel and Alexandre (2009) applied the ambidexterity lens to firms’ technology-sourcing strategies—a very different approach from the Jansen et al. (2009) product innovation perspective....

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  • ...For example, in the study referenced previously, Jansen et al. (2009) temporarily separated the independent and dependent variables in their surveys, and they also gathered data at two different points Ta b le 1 O p er at io n al iz at io n o f E xp lo ra ti o n an d E xp lo it at io n in S el…...

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Posted Content
01 Jan 2002
TL;DR: In this article, a comparative longitudinal study of Andy Grove's tenure as Intel Corporation's CEO (1987-1998) documents how he moved Intel's strategy-making process from an internal ecology model to the classical rational actor model.
Abstract: This comparative longitudinal study of Andy Grove's tenure as Intel Corporation's CEO (1987-1998) documents how he moved Intel's strategy-making process from an internal ecology model to the classical rational actor model. His creation of a highly successful strategy vector pursued through an extremely focused induced strategy process led to co-evolutionary-lock-in with the PC market segment. Intra-company analysis of four new business development cases highlights the inertial consequences of co-evolutionary lock-in. The paper examines implications of co-evolutionary lock-in for long-term organizational adaptation in terms of its effect on balancing induced and autonomous strategy processes and exploitation and exploration in organizational learning.

79 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify a path-dependent process of tension interpretation and tension management at different levels of the organization and suggest that actors are actively involved in managing arising tensions based on their differing interpretations of these tensions.
Abstract: Whereas tensions arising from the pursuit of ambidexterity have been documented, how these are interpreted and managed by actors themselves remains largely unexplored. Based on in-depth case research in a large Scandinavian-based telecommunications organization pursuing ambidexterity, we identify a path-dependent process of tension interpretation and tension management at different levels of the organization. Our findings suggest that, in the context of an ambidextrous strategy, actors are actively involved in managing arising tensions based on their differing interpretations of these tensions (where ambidextrous demands are seen as complementary, conflicting or interrelated). We find that these interpretations are influenced by actors’ strategic orientation and organizational level. Our study extends understanding of the pursuit of ambidexterity in practice, offering a pluralist, path-dependent perspective of how actors perceive and deal with ambidexterity tensions.

79 citations


Cites background from "Structural Differentiation and Ambi..."

  • ...Whereas trade-offs between these two goals have often been considered insurmountable, research on organizational ambidexterity has shown that the simultaneous pursuit of exploration and exploitation is both feasible and beneficial to organizational performance (He and Wong, 2004; Jansen et al., 2009; Tushman and O’Reilly III, 1996)....

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  • ...…goals have often been considered insurmountable, research on organizational ambidexterity has shown that the simultaneous pursuit of exploration and exploitation is both feasible and beneficial to organizational performance (He and Wong, 2004; Jansen et al., 2009; Tushman and O’Reilly III, 1996)....

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  • ...Tactics of differentiation (Jansen et al., 2009), integration (Smith and Tushman, 2005) or alignment and adaptability (Gibson and Birkinshaw, 2004) have been proposed, but what is currently unexplored is whether these mechanisms can co-exist within a single organizational context (Chandrasekaran et…...

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  • ...Tactics of differentiation (Jansen et al., 2009), integration (Smith and Tushman, 2005) or alignment and adaptability (Gibson and Birkinshaw, 2004) have been proposed, but what is currently unexplored is whether these mechanisms can co-exist within a single organizational context (Chandrasekaran et al....

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  • ...Shifting the focus on integration to middle management, Jansen et al. (2009) argue for the use of cross-functional interfaces (such as liaison personnel, task forces and teams) as a means of enabling knowledge exchange within units that manage exploration and exploitation....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This study examines the relationship between BI&A use, innovation ambidexterity, and firm performance by relying on the process theory of IS value creation as well as the dynamic capabilities perspective.
Abstract: To survive in a dynamic and hyper-competitive business environment, firms are compelled to simultaneously introduce incremental and radical innovations. While it is recognised that business intelligence and analytics (BI&A) can support innovation and provide organisational value, the literature provides a limited understanding of its impact on balancing different innovation activities and ensuring performance gains. In this study, we examine the relationship between BI&A use, innovation ambidexterity, and firm performance by relying on the process theory of IS value creation as well as the dynamic capabilities perspective. We test our model using data collected from medium- and large-sized firms in Slovenia, applying partial least squares modelling. The results support the notion that BI&A use is positively associated with successful balancing between explorative and exploitative innovation activities, which in turn enhances firm performance. Our results also indicate that innovation ambidexterity is enhanced in two ways: indirectly through interaction with the firm’s absorptive capacity, and directly by increasing the possibilities of faster experimentation with offerings of products or services and improved predictability of the value of new products or services.

79 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article seeks to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ, and delineates the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena.
Abstract: In this article, we attempt to distinguish between the properties of moderator and mediator variables at a number of levels. First, we seek to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating, both conceptually and strategically, the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ. We then go beyond this largely pedagogical function and delineate the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena, including control and stress, attitudes, and personality traits. We also provide a specific compendium of analytic procedures appropriate for making the most effective use of the moderator and mediator distinction, both separately and in terms of a broader causal system that includes both moderators and mediators.

80,095 citations


"Structural Differentiation and Ambi..." refers background in this paper

  • ...A four-item scale ( = 0 70) measures firmlevel exploitative innovation (Jansen et al. 2006) and captures the extent to which organizations build on existing knowledge and pursue incremental innovations that meet the needs of existing customers (Abernathy and Clark 1985, Benner and Tushman 2003,…...

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Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the link between firm resources and sustained competitive advantage and analyzed the potential of several firm resources for generating sustained competitive advantages, including value, rareness, imitability, and substitutability.

46,648 citations


"Structural Differentiation and Ambi..." refers background in this paper

  • ...provides organizations with competitive advantages over time (Barney 1991)....

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  • ...Our study broadens the conceptual interpretation of organizational ambidexterity and suggests that it is difficult to achieve yet rare and not easily imitated, and 797 provides organizations with competitive advantages over time (Barney 1991)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the ability of a firm to recognize the value of new, external information, assimilate it, and apply it to commercial ends is critical to its innovative capabilities.
Abstract: In this paper, we argue that the ability of a firm to recognize the value of new, external information, assimilate it, and apply it to commercial ends is critical to its innovative capabilities. We label this capability a firm's absorptive capacity and suggest that it is largely a function of the firm's level of prior related knowledge. The discussion focuses first on the cognitive basis for an individual's absorptive capacity including, in particular, prior related knowledge and diversity of background. We then characterize the factors that influence absorptive capacity at the organizational level, how an organization's absorptive capacity differs from that of its individual members, and the role of diversity of expertise within an organization. We argue that the development of absorptive capacity, and, in turn, innovative performance are history- or path-dependent and argue how lack of investment in an area of expertise early on may foreclose the future development of a technical capability in that area. We formulate a model of firm investment in research and development (R&D), in which R&D contributes to a firm's absorptive capacity, and test predictions relating a firm's investment in R&D to the knowledge underlying technical change within an industry. Discussion focuses on the implications of absorptive capacity for the analysis of other related innovative activities, including basic research, the adoption and diffusion of innovations, and decisions to participate in cooperative R&D ventures. **

31,623 citations


"Structural Differentiation and Ambi..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Organizational integration mechanisms not only facilitate new value creation through linking previously unconnected knowledge sources (Cohen and Levinthal 1990), but also through providing opportunities to leverage common resources and obtaining synergies across exploratory and exploitative units…...

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The dynamic capabilities framework as mentioned in this paper analyzes the sources and methods of wealth creation and capture by private enterprise firms operating in environments of rapid technological change, and suggests that private wealth creation in regimes of rapid technology change depends in large measure on honing intemal technological, organizational, and managerial processes inside the firm.
Abstract: The dynamic capabilities framework analyzes the sources and methods of wealth creation and capture by private enterprise firms operating in environments of rapid technological change. The competitive advantage of firms is seen as resting on distinctive processes (ways of coordinating and combining), shaped by the firm's (specific) asset positions (such as the firm's portfolio of difftcult-to- trade knowledge assets and complementary assets), and the evolution path(s) it has aflopted or inherited. The importance of path dependencies is amplified where conditions of increasing retums exist. Whether and how a firm's competitive advantage is eroded depends on the stability of market demand, and the ease of replicability (expanding intemally) and imitatability (replication by competitors). If correct, the framework suggests that private wealth creation in regimes of rapid technological change depends in large measure on honing intemal technological, organizational, and managerial processes inside the firm. In short, identifying new opportunities and organizing effectively and efficiently to embrace them are generally more fundamental to private wealth creation than is strategizing, if by strategizing one means engaging in business conduct that keeps competitors off balance, raises rival's costs, and excludes new entrants. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

27,902 citations


"Structural Differentiation and Ambi..." refers background in this paper

  • ...…capabilities, which are embedded in the distinct ways that organizations integrate, build, and recombine competences flexibly across boundaries, are fundamental to long-term strategic advantage (Eisenhardt and Martin 2000, Henderson and Cockburn 1994, Kogut and Zander 1992, Teece et al. 1997)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, structural equation models with latent variables are defined, critiqued, and illustrated, and an overall program for model evaluation is proposed based upon an interpretation of converging and diverging evidence.
Abstract: Criteria for evaluating structural equation models with latent variables are defined, critiqued, and illustrated. An overall program for model evaluation is proposed based upon an interpretation of converging and diverging evidence. Model assessment is considered to be a complex process mixing statistical criteria with philosophical, historical, and theoretical elements. Inevitably the process entails some attempt at a reconcilation between so-called objective and subjective norms.

19,160 citations