Ambidextrous Organizations: sustainable growth by balancing exploitation and exploration

Blazquez, Victor (2012) Ambidextrous Organizations: sustainable growth by balancing exploitation and exploration. Masters thesis, Università della Svizzera italiana.

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Abstract

In this dissertation we aim to provide a theoretical overview on the concept of organizational ambidexterity and to verify its rational validity. To achieve this aim we split the concept in its characteristic elements, in order to examine them in detail. This analysis follows a logical path, which reviews these fundamental elements step by step, up to the definition of the concept as a whole. Organizational ambidexterity consists in a company’s ability to be efficient and aligned, and at the same time to be also flexible and adaptive to environmental changes. It is commonly theorized that ambidextrous organizations are able to achieve sustainable growth by balancing the exploitation of current business factors with the exploration of new ones. In this assumption we may identify a set of main concepts: exploitation, exploration, sustainable growth and ambidextrous organization. The analytical path of this paper consists of three parts, each focusing on a theoretical pillar. In the first part we go through the concepts of exploitation and exploration, and their possible complementarity, which is critical for their joint implementation. In the second part we will consider the concept of sustainable growth, in order to verify if the joint implementation of exploration and exploitation can actually be a source of sustainable growth. The last part is dedicated to how an ambidextrous organization can manage this joint implementation in order to ensure survival in the long term. Through this theoretical overview on the concept of organizational ambidexterity we may con-firm its rational validity and thoroughly understand the righteousness of its purpose. At the same time we may also underline the complexity of organizational ambidexterity and its difficult application in management practice.

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