Contextual Ambidexterity - A Silver Bullet For Superior Performance: Investigating Environmental Moderators

Contextual ambidexterity, conceptualized by Gibson and Birkinshaw (2004) as a means to balance exploration and exploitation at a business unit-level, is presumed an organizational capacity which facilitates superior performance. In this paper, we not only seek for further empirical evidence for the contextual ambidexterity-performance relationship but also explore its boundary conditions, which have been disregarded thus far. Specifically, we advance the argument that the relationship is moderated by environmental factors. Drawing on three important characteristics of the external environment, we develop testable hypotheses respectively. Somewhat counterintuitive, the hypotheses suggest a certain conservatism in expectations with respect to the performance impact of contextual ambidexterity. The study mainly contributes to the ambidexterity research stream, as it aids surmounting indicated shortcomings in the literature.