A dynamic perspective on ambidexterity
Subtitle: structural differentiation and boundary activities
By: Sebastian Raisch, Michael L. Tushman
Contributors: Tushman, Michael; Harvard Business School
Series: Working paper / Harvard Business School -- 11-111; Working paper (Harvard Business School) -- 11-111.
Publisher: Harvard Business School
Published: 2011
Place of publication: [Boston]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 40
Description: This paper explores the shifting nature of differentiation and integration in organizations attempting to explore and exploit. In a longitudinal study of six new business initiatives, we find that firms engage in a dynamic process of managing contradictory boundary activities. Boundaries between differentiated units are reinforced to enable exploitation and exploration, while corporate boundary spanners integrate these processes. The locus of integration shifts from the corporate team to lower organizational levels when the new business initiative reaches economic and cognitive legitimacy. We use these insights to revise the organizational ambidexterity concept, considering the underexplored roles of time, paradox, and locus.
Notes: "April 2011" -- Publisher's website.

Includes bibliographical references.