Ambidextrous Organizations: A Multiple-Level Study of Absorptive Capacity, Exploratory and Exploitative Innovation and Performance

Balancing and synchronizing exploration and exploitation is fundamental to the competitive success of firms in dynamic environments. Despite the importance of reconciling exploration and exploitation within organizations, however, relatively little empirical research has examined this challenge facing numerous organizations. This study develops a multi-level framework and explores how ambidextrous organizations can successfully cope with both types of innovations across organizational units. It not only examines performance implications of organizational ambidexterity, but also investigates how organizational units develop exploratory and exploitative innovations. Results indicate that the most effective ambidextrous organizations balance exploratory and exploitative innovation by separating both types of activities in different organizational units. Moreover, findings demonstrate that organizational units require different types of combinative capabilities to influence their absorptive capacity, and subsequently, their exploratory and exploitative innovations.

Het balanceren en synchroniseren van exploratie en exploitatie is fundamenteel voor het competitieve succes van ondernemingen in dynamische omgevingen. Ondanks het belang van het verenigen van exploratie- en exploitatieactiviteiten binnen organisaties, zijn er nog maar weinig empirische studies die deze uitdaging voor hedendaagse organisaties hebben onderzocht. Dit onderzoek ontwikkelt een multi-level framework en achterhaalt hoe ambidexter organisaties tegelijkertijd succesvol kunnen omgaan met exploratie en exploitatie in verschillende organisatie-eenheden. Er wordt niet alleen gekeken naar de resultaten van ambidexter organisaties, maar er wordt ook onderzocht hoe organisatie-eenheden exploratie en exploitatie kunnen ontwikkelen. De resultaten van het onderzoek laten zien dat de meest effectieve ambidexter organisaties exploratie en exploitatie balanceren door beide activiteiten zoveel mogelijk te scheiden in verschillende organisatie-eenheden. Daarnaast biedt dit onderzoek nieuwe inzichten in belangrijke organisatievaardigheden die organisatie-eenheden dienen te ontwikkelen en te implementeeren om hun kennisabsorptievermogen te verhogen en, vervolgens, exploratieve en exploitatieve innovaties te ontwikkelen.

Justin J.P. Jansen (Numansdorp, November 28, 1976) received his M.Sc. degree in strategic management from the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Justin Jansen is currently an assistant professor of strategic management at the Rotterdam School of Management. His research interests include organizational learning and change, strategic management of innovation in SMEs, (corporate) entrepreneurship, and organizational ambidexterity. His research has been published or is forthcoming in Academy of Management Journal, Management & Organisatie (in Dutch), and Schmalenbach Business Review. One of his papers was awarded the best paper prize at the Annual Conference on Corporate Strategy. Moreover, he has presented his research at major international conferences, such as the Academy of Management, EGOS, LINK, and the Strategic Management Society. Justin Jansen currently serves as an ad-hoc reviewer for the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management Studies, and serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Technology Marketing.