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Structural Differentiation and Ambidexterity: The Mediating Role of Integration Mechanisms

Justin J. P. Jansen1, Michiel Pieter Tempelaar1, Frans van den Bosch1, Henk W. Volberda1•
Erasmus University Rotterdam1
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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Citations
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Journal Article•DOI•
Team exploratory and exploitative learning: psychological safety, task conflict, and team performance

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Konstantinos Kostopoulos1, Nikos Bozionelos2•
Norwich University1, Durham University2
01 Jun 2011-Group & Organization Management
TL;DR: In this paper, exploratory and exploitative learning as distinct team-level activities, constructed measures of them, and examined their relationships with psychological safety, task conflict, and team performance.
Abstract: This study conceptualized exploratory and exploitative learning as distinct team-level activities, constructed measures of them, and examined their relationships with psychological safety, task conflict, and team performance. Structural equation analysis in a sample of 142 innovation project teams indicated that psychological safety was linearly and nonlinearly related to team exploitative and exploratory learning, respectively; whereas task conflict positively moderated the relationship between psychological safety and exploitative learning. Furthermore, exploratory and exploitative learning were additively related to team performance, as rated by team managers, and mediated its relationship with psychological safety. The findings contribute to understanding how and under what conditions organizational teams engage in exploratory and exploitative learning to maximize their performance.

198 citations

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

  • ...Authors (e.g., Gibson & Birkinshaw, 2004; He & Wong, 2004; Jansen et al., 2009; Lubatkin et al., 2006) have proposed that exploration and exploitation are not only distinct learning activities but also interact to simultaneously contribute to performance (i....

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  • ...This adds to the developing consensus in the literature that exploratory and exploitative learning are distinct activities that positively relate to performance (e.g., Gibson & Birkinshaw, 2004; Jansen et al, 2009; Mom et al., 2007; Jansen, van den Bosch, & Volberda, 2006)....

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  • ...Performance of both activities can be accomplished in a number of ways, including engagement in paradoxical thinking by individual team members (Gibson & Birkinshaw, 2004), division of team members’ time to both activities, and differential assignment of team members to roles that relate to exploration or exploitation of knowledge (Jansen et al., 2009; Raisch & Birkinshaw, 2008)....

    [...]

  • ...Authors (e.g., Gibson & Birkinshaw, 2004; He & Wong, 2004; Jansen et al., 2009; Lubatkin et al., 2006) have proposed that exploration and exploitation are not only distinct learning activities but also interact to simultaneously contribute to performance (i.e., they form an ambidextrous entity)....

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  • ...…in paradoxical thinking by individual team members (Gibson & Birkinshaw, 2004), division of team members’ time to both activities, and differential assignment of team members to roles that relate to exploration or exploitation of knowledge (Jansen et al., 2009; Raisch & Birkinshaw, 2008)....

    [...]

Journal Article•DOI•
Exploration and exploitation in project-based organizations: Development and diffusion of knowledge at different organizational levels in construction companies

[...]

Per Erik Eriksson1•
Luleå University of Technology1
01 Apr 2013-International Journal of Project Management
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss how PBOs in the construction industry can manage the exploration/exploitation paradox at different organizational levels by using cooperative procurement procedures to facilitate both exploration and exploitation of knowledge and technologies in construction projects.

194 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
A network perspective on organizational architecture: performance effects of the interplay of formal and informal organization

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Giuseppe Soda1, Akbar Zaheer2•
Bocconi University1, University of Minnesota2
01 Jun 2012-Strategic Management Journal
TL;DR: This work develops and test the concept of network consistency as the overlap between the informal network of advice and information with formal structures and processes, expressed as networks, and theorizes that consistency between formal and informal networks exerts differing effects on performance.
Abstract: We take a network perspective to organizational architecture, conceptualizing it as multiple networks of both formal and informal interactions and argue that their interplay is key to better understanding individual organizational member performance. We develop and test the concept of network consistency as the overlap between the informal network of advice and information with formal structures and processes, expressed as networks. We theorize that consistency between formal and informal networks exerts differing effects on performance. We test our theory in a financial services firm, using secondary data to create formal networks and annual performance evaluations for our dependent variable, along with primary survey data from organizational members to obtain the informal advice and information network. Results support our network approach to organizational architecture. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

193 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
Big Data Analytics Capabilities and Performance : Evidence from a Moderated Multi-Mediation Model

[...]

Riccardo Rialti1, Lamberto Zollo1, Alberto Ferraris2, Alberto Ferraris3, Ilan Alon •
University of Florence1, University of Turin2, Ural Federal University3
01 Dec 2019-Technological Forecasting and Social Change
TL;DR: It is found that organizational BDA capabilities affect a firm's ambidexterity and agility, which, in turn, affect its performance.

185 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
The Essence of Dynamic Capabilities and their Measurement

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Ola Laaksonen, Mirva Peltoniemi1•
University of Jyväskylä1
01 Apr 2018-International Journal of Management Reviews
TL;DR: The authors assess the extent to which different ways of measuring dynamic capabilities in quantitative studies correspond to the theoretical essence of the concept, and develop recommendations for future research.
Abstract: The growing popularity of explaining firm performance through dynamic capabilities has motivated plenty of conceptual development in the field. However, empirical approaches to measuring dynamic capabilities have so far not been under comprehensive scrutiny. The authors; purpose is to assess the extent to which different ways of measuring dynamic capabilities in quantitative studies correspond to the theoretical essence of the concept, and develop recommendations for future research. They find that four types of operationalizations have been used: (1) managers’ evaluations; (2) financial data; (3) company's experience, actions and performance; and (4) managers’ or employees’ experience, actions and performance. Based on their analysis, the authors provide eight recommendations for future research that relate to identifying ordinary and dynamic capabilities, avoiding common method bias, taking into account the quality and fitness rather than the quantity of dynamic capabilities, and acknowledging the cumulativeness of dynamic capabilities through the use of longitudinal data. They conclude that refining the dynamic capability operationalizations would help to formulate competing hypotheses and to increase the theoretical precision of the field.

178 citations

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

  • ...…et al. (2013), Capron and Mitchell (2009), Danneels (2008), Drnevich and Kriauciunas (2011), Fang and Zou (2010), Feller et al. (2013), Jansen et al. (2009), Kusunoki et al. (1998), Kyrgidou and Spyropoulou (2013), Lee et al. (2015), Malik and Kotabe (2009), Marcus and Anderson…...

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"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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"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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David J. Teece1, Gary P. Pisano2, Amy Shuen3•
University of California, Berkeley1, Harvard University2, San Jose State University3
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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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Richard P. Bagozzi1, Youjae Yi1•
University of Michigan1
01 Jan 1988-Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science
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19,160 citations

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