Posted Content•
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: In this paper, the authors draw on a variety of cognate literatures to discuss the field-level structural characteristics and organizational attributes that shape institutional complexity and explore the repertoire of strategies and structures that organizations deploy to cope with multiple, competing demands.
Abstract: Organizations face institutional complexity whenever they confront incompatible prescriptions from multiple institutional logics. Our interest is in how plural institutional logics, refracted through field-level structures and processes, are experienced within organizations and how organizations respond to such complexity. We draw on a variety of cognate literatures to discuss the field-level structural characteristics and organizational attributes that shape institutional complexity. We then explore the repertoire of strategies and structures that organizations deploy to cope with multiple, competing demands. The analytical framework developed herein is presented to guide future scholarship in the systematic analysis of institutional complexity. We conclude by suggesting avenues for future research.
2,129 citations
Cites background from "Structural Differentiation and Ambi..."
...…the ambidextrous approach and to minimize internal resistance, and the skills to communicate clearly their approach in order to offset any media skepticism (e.g., O’Reilly & Tushman, 2004; Jansen et al., 2009; Fang, Lee, & Schilling, 2010; Benner & Tushman, 2003; Siggelkow & Levinthal, 2003)....
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...These include the need for “ambidextrous leaders” with the ability to understand the requirements of different types of businesses, the authority to implement new incentive systems to institutionalize the ambidextrous approach and to minimize internal resistance, and the skills to communicate clearly their approach in order to offset any media skepticism (e.g., O’Reilly & Tushman, 2004; Jansen et al., 2009; Fang, Lee, & Schilling, 2010; Benner & Tushman, 2003; Siggelkow & Levinthal, 2003)....
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TL;DR: An overview of the seven articles included in this special issue is provided and several avenues for future research are suggested.
Abstract: Organizational ambidexterity has emerged as a new research paradigm in organization theory, yet several issues fundamental to this debate remain controversial. We explore four central tensions here: Should organizations achieve ambidexterity through differentiation or through integration? Does ambidexterity occur at the individual or organizational level? Must organizations take a static or dynamic perspective on ambidexterity? Finally, can ambidexterity arise internally, or do firms have to externalize some processes? We provide an overview of the seven articles included in this special issue and suggest several avenues for future research.
1,946 citations
Cites background from "Structural Differentiation and Ambi..."
...The Jansen et al. (2009) article “Structural Differentiation and Ambidexterity: The Mediating Role of Integration Mechanisms” claims that structural differentiation can help ambidextrous organizations maintain multiple inconsistent and conflicting demands; however, these differentiated activities…...
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...Third, ambidexterity may arise from both simultaneous and sequential attention to exploitation and exploration....
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...Kogut and Zander (1992, p. 384) describe “combinative capabilities” as the firm’s ability “to synthesize and apply current and acquired knowledge.”...
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...Several studies in this special issue provide the first evidence that ambidexterity results from interactions across multiple levels (Andriopoulos and Lewis 2009, Groysberg and Lee 2009, Jansen et al. 2009, Mom et al. 2009, Taylor and Helfat 2009)....
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Posted Content•
01 Jan 2013
TL;DR: Organizational ambidexterity refers to the ability of an organization to both explore and exploit--to compete in mature technologies and markets where efficiency, control, and incremental improvement are prized and to also compete in new technologies as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Organizational ambidexterity refers to the ability of an organization to both explore and exploit--to compete in mature technologies and markets where efficiency, control, and incremental improvement are prized and to also compete in new technologies and markets where flexibility, autonomy, and experimentation are needed. In the past 15 years there has been an explosion of interest and research on this topic. We briefly review the current state of the research, highlighting what we know and don't know about the topic. We close with a point of view on promising areas for ongoing research.
1,350 citations
TL;DR: The exploration and exploitation framework has attracted substantial interest from scholars studying phenomena such as organizational learning, knowledge management, innovation, organizational design, and strategic alliances as discussed by the authors, and it has become an essential lens for interpreting various behaviors and outcomes within and across organizations.
Abstract: Jim March's framework of exploration and exploitation has drawn substantial interest from scholars studying phenomena such as organizational learning, knowledge management, innovation, organizational design, and strategic alliances. This framework has become an essential lens for interpreting various behaviors and outcomes within and across organizations. Despite its straightforwardness, this framework has generated debates concerning the definition of exploration and exploitation, and their measurement, antecedents, and consequences. We critically review the growing literature on exploration and exploitation, discuss various perspectives, raise conceptual and empirical concerns, underscore challenges for further development of this literature, and provide directions for future research.
1,241 citations
Cites background from "Structural Differentiation and Ambi..."
...…the notion of ambidexterity quite narrowly when referring to contextual balancing and organizational separation, whereas many studies consider ambidexterity as a general term for describing balance between exploration and exploitation (e.g., Jansen et al., 2009; Raisch et al., 2009; Simsek, 2009)....
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...By loosely integrating their exploratory and exploitative units, organizations simultaneously perform both activities and balance them within their boundaries through active integration of the senior-management teams (Jansen et al., 2009)....
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TL;DR: Overall, this work contributes a more accurate view of how leaders effectively balance between efficiency and flexibility by emphasizing heuristics-based “strategies of simple rules,” multiple environmental realities, and higher-order “expert” cognition.
Abstract: Our purpose is to clarify the microfoundations of performance in dynamic environments. A key premise is that the microfoundational link from organization, strategy, and dynamic capabilities to performance centers on how leaders manage the fundamental tension between efficiency and flexibility. We develop several insights. First, regarding structure, we highlight that organizations often drift toward efficiency, and so balancing efficiency and flexibility comes, counterintuitively, through unbalancing to favor flexibility. Second, we argue that environmental dynamism, rather than being simply stable or dynamic, is a multidimensional construct with dimensions that uniquely influence the importance and ease of balancing efficiency and flexibility. Third, we outline how executives balance efficiency and flexibility through cognitively sophisticated, single solutions rather than by simply holding contradictions. Overall, we go beyond the caricature of new organizational forms as obsessed with fluidity and the simplistic view of routines as the microfoundation of performance. Rather, we contribute a more accurate view of how leaders effectively balance between efficiency and flexibility by emphasizing heuristics-based “strategies of simple rules,” multiple environmental realities, and higher-order “expert” cognition. Together, these insights seek to add needed precision to the microfoundations of performance in dynamic environments.
621 citations
Cites background from "Structural Differentiation and Ambi..."
...…and flexibility are contradictory choices that require mutually exclusive solutions that support either efficiency or flexibility (Duncan 1976, Jansen et al. 2009, Lubatkin et al. 2006, Raisch and Birkinshaw 2008, Raisch et al. 2009, Tushman and O’Reilly 1996; see also the Organization…...
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...Finally, regardless of whether ambidexterity is spatial or temporal, senior executives ultimately must integrate the contradictory cognitive agendas of efficiency and flexibility (Gilbert 2006, Smith and Tushman 2005) through mechanisms such as contingent awards for senior teams (Jansen et al. 2009) and education (Taylor and Helfat 2009)....
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...…is spatial or temporal, senior executives ultimately must integrate the contradictory cognitive agendas of efficiency and flexibility (Gilbert 2006, Smith and Tushman 2005) through mechanisms such as contingent awards for senior teams (Jansen et al. 2009) and education (Taylor and Helfat 2009)....
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References
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07 Oct 2019
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyze which policies of human resource management contribute to exploratory learning and which to exploitation learning, and determine the influence of the two types of learning on organizational performance.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to analyze which policies of human resource management (HRM) contribute to exploratory learning and which to exploitation learning; and second, to determine the influence of the two types of learning on organizational performance.,The research hypotheses are tested by partial least squares with data from a sample of 100 Spanish hotels.,The results confirm that, in order of importance, selective staffing, comprehensive training and an equitable reward system lead to exploratory learning. Exploitative learning seems to be fundamentally driven by comprehensive training and an equitable reward system (but in a different way than with exploratory learning). Finally, both types of learning have a positive impact on performance.,Both exploratory and exploitative learning result from HRM practices. To maintain performance expectations managers should develop both learning types, which entails the utilization of the best HRM practices.,This study presents empirical evidence around the findings of other studies (Laursen and Foss, 2014; Minbaeva, 2013) which call for further research into whether strategic HRM configurations have positive effects on the two learning types. The results find some practices that have a positive effect in both cases, but with different intensities in their explanations. This finding reveals the need for more detailed exploration around which combinations of HRM practices, in terms of exploratory vs exploitative learning, are advisable for organizations. The study also finds that the two learning types have a positive influence on organizational performance.
8 citations
01 Jan 2016
8 citations
13 Jan 2014
8 citations
Dissertation•
02 Mar 2020
TL;DR: In this article, a tesis doctoral ha been presented, bajo la modalidad de compendio de articulos, to evaluate the effect of complementariedad on the performance of the hipotesis test of the Panel of Innovacion Tecnologica (PITEC).
Abstract: El objetivo principal de los decisores politicos es mejorar el bienestar y el nivel de vida de toda la poblacion. Para ello, necesitan crear las condiciones que faciliten la existencia de un tejido productivo con altas capacidades innovadoras, en la medida en que una elevada innovacion genera empresas competitivas capaces de soportar elevados salarios. Esta tesis doctoral ha sido desarrollada en un contexto de creciente interes publico por comprender los mecanismos que rigen la innovacion de las empresas y las naciones, asi como de los medios al alcance de los diferentes actores involucrados (fundamentalmente, empresas y gobiernos). Con este fin, y desde la aplicacion del enfoque de complementariedad, esta tesis doctoral ha sido presentada bajo la modalidad de compendio de articulos. En la misma, se aborda el analisis de tres temas sobre economia de la innovacion de la maxima relevancia. En primer lugar, se analiza la existencia de indicios de complementariedad entre las agencias publicas de innovacion que operan en Espana (regional, nacional, europea y septimo Programa Marco). Los datos utilizados en este capitulo proceden del Panel de Innovacion Tecnologica (PITEC) 2015 y 2016. El analisis empirico ha sido implementado mediante el llamado enfoque de adopcion. Los resultados obtenidos indican que hay indicios de sustitucion entre las dos agencias espanolas (regional y nacional), mientras que las relaciones entre las otras agencias muestran indicios de complementariedad. Estos indicios constituyen una muestra de que la aplicacion del principio de subsidiariedad entre las dos agencias espanolas parece funcionar correctamente, mientras que su implementacion es mucho mas difusa entre las dos agencias espanolas y las dos agencias europeas. En segundo lugar, en la tesis se analiza si las innovaciones tecnologicas y no tecnologicas en el sector servicios comparten los mismos determinantes. Sobre esta cuestion existen dos visiones antagonicas: la vision distintiva argumenta que los determinantes de ambas tecnologias son diferentes; por el contrario, la vision integrativa considera que ambos tipos de tecnologia comparten determinantes. Para la realizacion del analisis empirico se utilizan datos longitudinales procedentes del Panel de Innovacion Tecnologica (PITEC) para el periodo 2008-2012. Se utiliza el enfoque de complementariedad para formular y contrastar los test de hipotesis. Los test muestran que ninguna de las dos visiones ha sido totalmente acreditada, aunque la vision distintiva es mas prevalente. Sin embargo, la radiografia de las relaciones entre ambos tipos de tecnologia indica que las empresas de servicios pueden lograr mayores aumentos de productividad si las innovaciones tecnologicas y las no tecnologicas son implementadas simultaneamente. En tercer lugar, se analiza la complementariedad entre tecnologia extranjera adquirida bajo acuerdo de licencia, tecnologia incorporada en maquinaria y equipos y el aumento de la capacidad productiva de las empresas. Se utilizan datos panel de empresas manufactureras brasilenas procedentes de las encuestas del Banco Mundial de los anos 2002 y 2007. Los resultados indican que la tecnologia extranjera, la tecnologia incorporada y el aumento de la capacidad productiva tienen un impacto positivo y significativo sobre la productividad laboral de las empresas. Los test de complementariedad revelan que la relacion entre las dos tecnologias analizadas es condicionalmente sustitutiva y que la relacion entre cada una de estas tecnologias y el aumento de la capacidad productiva es condicionalmente complementaria. Estos hallazgos constituyen una guia importante para la toma de decisiones de los directivos de empresa. Conocer que combinaciones de agencias y que combinaciones de tecnologias son sustitutivas y complementarias es una informacion extremadamente relevante, ya que permite la determinacion anticipada de las combinaciones que deben ser evitadas. Tambien proporciona a los responsables politicos informacion significativa para el diseno de politicas de promocion de la innovacion mas eficientes. Finalmente, fuera del cuerpo central de la tesis, se exponen dos apendices de investigacion. En el primero, se analiza la influencia de la innovacion de producto, la innovacion de proceso y la innovacion no tecnologica sobre el desempeno medioambiental de las empresas, y se explora la existencia de complementariedades entre las diferentes combinaciones de estos tres tipos de innovacion. En el segundo, se analiza la complementariedad entre alianzas orientadas a la exploracion y alianzas orientadas a la explotacion, diferenciando entre empresas jovenes y empresas maduras.
8 citations
01 Jan 2018
TL;DR: The relationships of team diversity, social capital and ambidexterity as discussed by the authors were studied in the context of a team diversity and social capital-based management team, where team diversity is correlated with social capital.
Abstract: The relationships of team diversity, social capital and ambidexterity
8 citations