TY - JOUR
T1 - Cannibalize and combine? The impact of ambidextrous innovation on organizational outcomes under market competition
AU - Harmancioglu, Nukhet
AU - Sääksjärvi, Maria
AU - Hultink, Erik Jan
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - How can a firm achieve ambidexterity? The present study proposes that the answer to this question lies in the distinction between ambidextrous culture and ambidextrous innovation. Drawing upon organizational learning theory and the source-position-performance framework, we propose that ambidexterity requires the adoption of two important organizational cultures, willingness to cannibalize (WTCA) and willingness to combine existing knowledge (WTCO), which allow firms to attain superior performance through the implementation of both radical and incremental (i.e., ambidextrous) innovations. Our major contribution lies in addressing the important debate in the literature on whether exploration and exploitation are complements or substitutes. Furthermore, competition intensity is a key condition that determines the degree to which the two types of organizational cultures and the two types of innovations are necessary for superior firm performance. The study uses data from multiple respondents from 199 Chinese firms. Our findings thus suggest that WTCA and WTCO, which are traditionally treated as opposites, are complements in generating radical innovations.
AB - How can a firm achieve ambidexterity? The present study proposes that the answer to this question lies in the distinction between ambidextrous culture and ambidextrous innovation. Drawing upon organizational learning theory and the source-position-performance framework, we propose that ambidexterity requires the adoption of two important organizational cultures, willingness to cannibalize (WTCA) and willingness to combine existing knowledge (WTCO), which allow firms to attain superior performance through the implementation of both radical and incremental (i.e., ambidextrous) innovations. Our major contribution lies in addressing the important debate in the literature on whether exploration and exploitation are complements or substitutes. Furthermore, competition intensity is a key condition that determines the degree to which the two types of organizational cultures and the two types of innovations are necessary for superior firm performance. The study uses data from multiple respondents from 199 Chinese firms. Our findings thus suggest that WTCA and WTCO, which are traditionally treated as opposites, are complements in generating radical innovations.
KW - Ambidextrous innovations
KW - Chinese business
KW - Partial least squares
KW - Willingness to cannibalize
KW - Willingness to combine existing knowledge
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85072227419&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.indmarman.2019.07.005
DO - 10.1016/j.indmarman.2019.07.005
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85072227419
SN - 0019-8501
VL - 85
SP - 44
EP - 57
JO - Industrial Marketing Management
JF - Industrial Marketing Management
ER -