Organizational Ambidexterity: Balancing Exploitation and Exploration for Sustained Performance
Open accessAbstract
Organizational ambidexterity has emerged as a new research paradigm in organization theory, yet several issues fundamental to this debate remain controversial. We explore four central tensions here: Should organizations achieve ambidexterity through differentiation or through integration? Does ambidexterity occur at the individual or organizational level? Must organizations take a static or dynamic perspective on ambidexterity? Finally, can ambidexterity arise internally, or do firms have to externalize some processes? We provide an overview of the seven articles included in this special issue and suggest several avenues for future research.
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Innovation capabilities can assume a dichotomous role as a result of AI adoption.
“showing that innovation capabilities (Barczack, 2012) can assume a dichotomous role (Raisch et al., 2009) as a result of AI adoption.”
From Artificial intelligence in innovation management: A review of innovation capabilities and a taxonomy of <scp>AI</scp> applications (2025) · cites this paper as Raisch et al., 2009
Cites
Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning
March, J. G. (1991) · Organization Science · doi:10.1287/orsc.2.1.71 · Cited by 21,942 · see citing works
Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology
Kogut, B., & Zander, U. (1992) · Organization Science · doi:10.1287/orsc.3.3.383 · Cited by 12,939 · cited 3× · see citing works
“At the same time, however, externally acquired knowledge has to be absorbed and integrated to realize its potential (Cohen and Levinthal 1990, Kogut and Zander 1992).”
BackgroundInfluentialSocial Capital: Prospects for a New Concept
Adler, P. S., & Kwon, S.-W. (2002) · The Academy of Management Review · doi:10.2307/4134367 · Cited by 9,665 · cited 1× · see citing works
“To access external knowledge, these studies suggest that organizations need to establish relational contexts characterized by a broad set of resources from other actors and the normative and social cues these actors provide (Adler and Kwon 2002, Nahapiet and Ghoshal 1998).”
BackgroundSocial Capital, Intellectual Capital, and the Organizational Advantage
Nahapiet, J., & Ghoshal, S. (1998) · The Academy of Management Review · doi:10.2307/259373 · Cited by 7,111 · see citing works
The Search-Transfer Problem: The Role of Weak Ties in Sharing Knowledge across Organization Subunits
Hansen, M. T. (1999) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2667032 · Cited by 5,809 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Social network theory has shed light on how network characteristics affect knowledge transfer and integration (Hansen 1999, Obstfeld 2005).”
BackgroundExploration vs. Exploitation: An Empirical Test of the Ambidexterity Hypothesis
He, Z.-L., & Wong, P.-K. (2004) · Organization Science · doi:10.1287/orsc.1040.0078 · Cited by 3,737 · see citing works
Jansen, J. J. P., Van Den Bosch, F. A. J., & Volberda, H. W. (2006) · Management Science · doi:10.1287/mnsc.1060.0576 · Cited by 3,705 · see citing works
Siggelkow, N., & Levinthal, D. A. (2003) · Organization Science · doi:10.1287/orsc.14.6.650.24870 · Cited by 953 · see citing works
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Organizational Ambidexterity: Past, Present, and Future
O'Reilly, C. A., & Tushman, M. L. (2013) · Academy of Management Perspectives · doi:10.5465/amp.2013.0025 · Cited by 2,580 · see citing works
Self-citationParadox research in management science: Looking back to move forward
Schad, J., Lewis, M. W., Raisch, S., & Smith, W. K. (2016) · Academy of Management Annals · doi:10.5465/19416520.2016.1162422 · Cited by 1,385 · see citing works
Self-citationGama, F., & Magistretti, S. (2025) · Journal of Product Innovation Management · doi:10.1111/jpim.12698 · Cited by 388 · see citing works
Benner, M. J., & Tushman, M. L. (2015) · Academy of Management Review · doi:10.5465/amr.2015.0042 · Cited by 343 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Interplay between Intuition and Rationality in Strategic Decision Making: A Paradox Perspective
Calabretta, G., Gemser, G., & Wijnberg, N. M. (2017) · Organization Studies · doi:10.1177/0170840616655483 · Cited by 324 · see citing works
The Resilience Architecture Framework: Four organizational archetypes
Mamouni Limnios, E. A., Mazzarol, T., Ghadouani, A., & Schilizzi, S. G. M. (2014) · European Management Journal · doi:10.1016/j.emj.2012.11.007 · Cited by 319 · see citing works
Business Model Innovation as Lever of Organizational Sustainability
Carayannis, E. G., Sindakis, S., & Walter, C. (2015) · The Journal of Technology Transfer · doi:10.1007/s10961-013-9330-y · Cited by 299 · see citing works
Capturing the Complexity of Malleable IT Use: Adaptive Structuration Theory for Individuals1
Schmitz, K. W., Teng, J. T. C., & Webb, K. J. (2016) · MIS Quarterly · doi:10.25300/misq/2016/40.3.07 · Cited by 205 · see citing works
The Role of Ambidexterity in Managing Buyer–Supplier Relationships: The Toyota Case
Aoki, K., & Wilhelm, M. (2017) · Organization Science · doi:10.1287/orsc.2017.1156 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
The Learning Spiral: A Process Perspective on Paradox
Raisch, S., Hargrave, T. J., & van de Ven, A. H. (2018) · Journal of Management Studies · doi:10.1111/joms.12397 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
Self-citationShao, Z., Feng, Y., & Hu, Q. (2017) · Information & Management · doi:10.1016/j.im.2017.01.005 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
Effective sense-and-respond strategies: Mediating roles of exploratory and exploitative innovation
Ngo, L. V., Bucic, T., Sinha, A., & Lu, V. N. (2019) · Journal of Business Research · doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.10.050 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Global networks as a mode of balance for exploratory innovations in a late liberalizing economy
Khan, Z., Rao-Nicholson, R., & Tarba, S. Y. (2018) · Journal of World Business · doi:10.1016/j.jwb.2016.10.002 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
The effects of e-Government cloud assimilation on public value creation: An empirical study of China
Liang, Y., Qi, G., Zhang, X., & Li, G. (2019) · Government Information Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.giq.2019.101397 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Torre, C., Tommasetti, A., & Maione, G. (2021) · The TQM Journal · doi:10.1108/tqm-04-2020-0070 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
- Authors
- Raisch, S., Birkinshaw, J., Probst, G., & Tushman, M. L.
- Affiliations
- University of St.Gallen (CH)
- London Business School (GB)
- University of Geneva (CH)
- Harvard University (US)
- Venue
- Organization Science
- Published
- 2009-08
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 685-695
- ISSN
- 1047-7039 (ISSN-L)
- 1526-5455
- OpenAlex
- W2117486603
- Cited by
- 2,224
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 80 · 2025: 98 · 2024: 122 · 2023: 127 · 2022: 155 · 2021: 145 · 2020: 188 · 2019: 194 · 2018: 161 · 2017: 162 · 2016: 118 · 2015: 144 · 2014: 144 · 2013: 120 · 2012: 133
- FWCI
- 251.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- other-oa
- Locations
- Organization Science (publishedVersion)
- Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Alexandria (UniSG) (University of St.Gallen) (submittedVersion)
- Archive ouverte UNIGE (University of Geneva) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Innovation and Knowledge Management
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Management and Organizational Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Team Dynamics and Performance
- Keywords
- organizational ambidexterity, exploitation and exploration, differentiation, integration, dynamic capabilities, sustained performance
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