Performance implications of organizational and interorganizational ambidexterity

Abstract

In the pursuit of higher performance, firms often complement their exploitation- and exploration-based innovations with activities of co-exploitation and co-exploration with other organizations. Previous studies have examined organizational and interorganizational implications of ambidexterity in a separate way. However, we combine internal and external contributions of exploitation and exploration by analyzing the moderating role of interorganizational ambidexterity in the relationship between organizational ambidexterity and firm performance. Data are collected from a sample of 245 manufacturing companies that developed exploitation- and exploration-based innovations. A regression model is estimated to test the hypothesis. The results suggest that firms reach superior performance by developing a balance between high levels of organizational and interorganizational ambidexterity simultaneously.

Keywords

• organizational ambidexterity
• interorganizational ambidexterity
• firm performance
• exploitation
• exploration
• co-exploitation