From Separation to Integration : How Compensatory Structuring Reconciles Exploration and Exploitation
ISSN
0065-0668
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2014-08-01
Author(s)
Abstract
Prior research suggests that the ability to reconcile exploration and exploitation (i.e., ambidexterity) may foster firms' long-term success. The two activities, however, require fundamentally different structures with regard to centralization, formalization, and specialization. To overcome these tensions, researchers proposed the separation of consistently-structured explorative (i.e., mechanistic) and exploitative (i.e., organic) organizational domains. We develop an alternative solution by arguing that compensatory structuring - the ability to deploy seemingly inconsistent configurations of centralization, formalization, and specialization - may serve to reconcile exploration and exploitation within and across a single organizational domain. Our study of 190 SMEs supports this hypothesis and further reveals that different compensatory structures have varying effects on ambidexterity. Our findings extend prior theory by showing how structuring may not only be used to separate, but also to integrate paradoxical objectives.
Language
English
Keywords
Ambidexterity
Organizational Structuring
SME
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Book title
Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings. 2014
Publisher
Academy of Management
Start page
37
Event Title
74th Academy of Management Annual Meeting (AOM) 2014 "The Power of Words"
Event Location
Philadelphia, PA
Event Date
01-05.08.2014
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
233648