Evolving Tensions Across Different Stages of Ambidexterity

Abstract

Structural ambidexterity describes how firms can use specific organizational architectures to reconcile the contradictory requirements of exploitation and exploration. However, these ambidextrous architectures generate substantial tensions, often resulting in observable conflicts among different actors, that constantly need to be managed. Despite the sustained scholarly interest in organizational ambidexterity, to date, the precise nature of these tensions and conflicts and particularly how they evolve in the life cycle of structural ambidexterity remains largely opaque. Tracing the stony pathway of the development of a revolutionary fire truck in a tradition-steeped company, our longitudinal case study contributes to the emerging process perspective on ambidexterity by explicating the temporal nature of tensions and conflicts in initiating, balancing, and reintegrating explorative organizational units. Our study reveals how tensions and conflicts vary across different stages of structural ambidexterity, and how firms can manage them effectively.