O'Reilly & Tushman Flashcards
What is organizational ambidexterity?
Organizational ambidexterity refers to the ability of an organization to both explore and exploit—to compete in mature technologies and markets where efficiency, control, and incremental improvement are prized and to also compete in new technologies and
markets where flexibility, autonomy, and experimentation are needed.
What is a challenge that firms face wrt exploitation and exploration?
the basic problem confronting an organization is to engage in sufficient exploitation to ensure its current viability and, at the same time, devote enough energy to exploration to ensure its future
viability
What is the difficulty in achioeving this balance between exploitation and exploration?
The difficulty in achieving this balance is a bias in favor of exploitation with its greater certainty of short-term success. Exploration, by its nature, is inefficient and is associated with an unavoidable increase in the number of bad ideas. Yet, without some effort toward exploration,
firms, in the face of change, are likely to fail.
What is the relationship between ambidexterity and firm performance?
whether organizational ambidexterity is, as the original theory suggests, associated with firm performance. Here the preponderance of evidence shows a clear pattern; Ambidexterity has been shown to be positively associ-
ated with sales growth
under conditions of market and technological uncertainty, it typically has a
positive effect on firm performance
Under which conditions is ambidexterity more valuable?
under conditions of market and technological uncertainty, it typically has a
positive effect on firm performance
ambidexterity have shown that it is typically more valuable under conditions of environmental uncertainty,
with increased competitiveness
when a firm has more resources
and for larger firms
What happens when ambidexterity is over- under-used?
the evidence is that either under- or overuse of ambidexterity comes at a cost
In uncertain environments, organizational ambidexterity appears to he
In uncertain environments, organizational amhidexterity appears to he positively associated with increased firm innovation, hetter financial perfor-
mance, and higher survival rates.
What are the 3 approaches to ambidexterity?
- sequential
- structural/simultaneous
- contextual
What is sequential ambidexterity?
organizations achieved ambidexterity in a sequential fashion by shifting structures over time.
The view that firms can realign their structures to reflect changed environmental conditions or strategies is reflected in many of the early studies of organizational adapta-
tion
When is sequential ambidexterity more useful?
sequential ambidexterity may be more useful in stable, slower moving environments (e.g., service industries) and for smaller firms that lack the resources to pursue simultaneous or
sequential ambidexterity
What is simultaneous. structural ambidexterity?
A second way proposed to balance the exploration/ exploitation trade-off is through the simultaneous pursuit of both using separate subunits. This approach is typically characterized as structural ambidexterity but, as O’Reilly and Tushman (2008) noted, this “entails not only separate structural units for exploration and exploitation but also different competencies, systems, incentives, pro-
cesses, and cultures—eacb internally aligned
How are the different unit in simultaneous ambidexterity held together?
These separate units are held together by a common strategic intent, an overarching set of values, and targeted linking mechanisms to leverage
shared assets
What is contextual ambidexterity?
contextual ambidexterity, which they defined as “the behavioral capacity to simultaneously demonstrate alignment and adaptability across an entire business unit” (p. 209). In their view, the ability to balance exploration and exploitation rests on an “organizational context characterized by an interaction of stretch, discipline, and trust” (p. 214) and requires a “supportive organizational context” that “encourages individuals to make their own judgments as to how to hest divide their time between the conflicting
demands for alignment and adaptability
What is the difference between contextual ambidexterity and the other two ambidexterity?
First, the emphasis is on individuals rather than units making the adjustment between exploration and exploitation.
Second, ambidexterity is achieved when individuals agree that their unit is aligned and adaptable.
Third, what the organizational systems and processes are that enable this individual adjustment is never concretely specified, other than that they
promote stretch, discipline, and trust.
What are dynamic capabilities?
Dynamic capabilities are defined as “the firm’s ability to integrate, build, and reconfigure internal and external competencies to
address rapidly changing environments
the capacity of an organization to purposefully create, extend, or modify its resource base
