Top management team diversity in fostering organizational ambidexterity: Examining TMT integration mechanisms

TLDR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper argue that diverse teams have a dual nature that simultaneously facilitates and hinders organizational ambidexterity. And they suggest that establishing a governance mechanism to manage the dual impact of team diversity is crucial.

Abstract: Combining the upper echelons theory and intra-group confl ict view, this paper argues that diverse teams have a dual nature that simultaneously facilitates and hinders organizational ambidexterity. This study suggests that establishing a governance mechanism to manage the dual impact of team diversity is crucial. This study is based on a questionnaire survey and analysis using a sample of 196 fi rms in China. The fi ndings show that team diversity not only positively infl uences organizational ambidexterity through strategic planning processes but impedes ambidexterity through intra-group confl icts. The results also show that senior team integration mechanisms increase the ability of top executives to manage the ambiguous effect of diversity to facilitate organizational ambidexterity.