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Structural Differentiation and Ambidexterity: The Mediating Role of Integration Mechanisms
05 Nov 2008-ERIM report series research in management Erasmus Research Institute of Management (Erasmus Research Institute of Management)-
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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TL;DR: This research contributes to conceptualize paradoxes in IT success and advances the theory for a more comprehensive understanding of the impacts of IT ambidexterity capability.
24 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine how firms choose to cycle between exploratory and exploitative R&D activities and how this decision affects their performance, showing that high-speed temporal cycling decreases firm performance by increasing time compression diseconomies in learning.
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01 Jan 2016
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate organizational dysfunctions that can interfere with the implementation of structural ambidexterity as a dynamic capability and find that these dysfunctionologies give rise to competenc...
Abstract: We investigate the organizational dysfunctions that can interfere with the implementation of structural ambidexterity as a dynamic capability. We find that these dysfunctions give rise to competenc...
24 citations
Cites background from "Structural Differentiation and Ambi..."
...Shifting the focus of 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 organizational units that focus on exploration or exploitation....
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...Further literature has confirmed the importance of these integrative mechanisms (Carmeli and Halevi, 2009; Jansen et al., 2009), suggesting that the pursuit of structural ambidexterity could be to a large extent a leadership issue than simply a structural one (Jansen et al., 2008; Nemanich and…...
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...Further literature has confirmed the importance of these integrative mechanisms (Carmeli and Halevi, 2009; Jansen et al., 2009), suggesting that the pursuit of structural ambidexterity could be to a large extent a leadership issue than simply a structural one (Jansen et al....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a process perspective on corporate venture transition and present suitable actions for each of the different phases of the venture transition process, indicating the proper timing for venture transition, which is the long-standing difficulties in this area.
Abstract: Corporate venturing has become a well-known approach toward new business development and strategic renewal for established technology firms. However, without an effectively designed process for aligning and integrating a corporate venture in the established business, the firm increases the risk of venture failure. This paper provides a process perspective on corporate venture transition. Based on the results of an empirical study of six corporate venture transition processes, we present suitable actions for each of the different phases of the venture transition process. In addition, we indicate the proper timing for venture transition, which is one of the long-standing difficulties in this area. Finally, we integrate the results of the empirical study with knowledge from extant literature in a set of design principles. These design principles provide practical guidelines to improve corporate venture transition processes.
24 citations
Cites background from "Structural Differentiation and Ambi..."
..., 2009) and organizing formal cross-functional interfaces (Jansen et al., 2009)....
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...Moreover, creating appropriate governance structures supports the transition process, for instance by having effective management at the board level (Zahra et al., 2009) and organizing formal cross-functional interfaces (Jansen et al., 2009)....
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...This bridge should involve senior team integration (Tushman and O’Reilly, 1996; Maine, 2008) and formal crossfunctional interfaces (Jansen et al., 2009) to strategically legitimate the corporate ventures and to prepare the transition process (Garvin and Levesque, 2006)....
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TL;DR: In this article, the role of knowledge integration mechanisms (KIMs) and customer-oriented reward systems in non-marketing managers' use of customer information was examined. And the use of KIMs mediates the positive effect of customer oriented reward systems on non-m marketing managers.
Abstract: Purpose – This paper aims to improve customer knowledge management practices in industrial firms by examining the role of knowledge integration mechanisms (KIMs) and customer-oriented reward systems in non-marketing managers’ use of customer information. Design/methodology/approach – Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 221 R & D and manufacturing managers from large, Finnish industrial companies. Ordinary least squares regression with bootstrap procedures was used to test the hypotheses. Findings – The use of KIMs mediates the positive effect of customer-oriented reward systems on non-marketing managers’ use of customer information. However, non-marketing managers’ previous work experience in sales and marketing negatively moderates the effect of customer-oriented reward systems on the use of customer information. The use of knowledge integration systems mediates this moderation effect. Research limitations/implications – This paper provides empirical evidence concerning the antecedents of suc...
23 citations
References
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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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"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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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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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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