A ddressing the call for a deeper understanding of ambidexterity at the individual level, we propose that managers' networks are an important yet understudied factor in the ability to balance the trade-off between exploring for new business and exploiting existing business. Analyses of 1,449 ties in the internal and external networks of 79 senior managers in a management consulting firm revealed significant differences in the density, contact heterogeneity, and informality of ties in the networks of senior managers who engaged in both exploration and exploitation compared with managers that predominately explored or exploited. The findings suggest that managers' networks are important levers for their ability to behave ambidextrously and offer insights into the microfoundations of organizational ambidexterity.

Academy of Management 2014 Meeting attendants, seminar participants at INSEAD, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments and suggestions. Last but not least, we are very grateful to the managers and employees of the research site for their cooperation and insights. Any errors remain our own.

provided helpful comments. Relationship Dissolution 2 Too close for comfort? The effect of embeddedness and competitive overlap on client relationship retention following an acquisition ABSTRACT Drawing on insights from network dynamics and exchange theory, I develop and test arguments for the retention or dissolution of exchange relationships. I exploit mergers and acquisitions among advertising firms as strategic actions that change the networks in which they and their clients are situated, and examine the consequences of these changes for their network relationships. Analysis of an archival, longitudinal dataset confirms that, in general, relational embeddedness reduces the likelihood of dissolution, and that increases in competitive overlap among clients increase dissolution likelihood. The results also provide evidence of a significant interaction effect between relational embeddedness and competitive overlap. For low to moderate increases in competitive overlap, embeddedness reduces dissolution likelihood. However, when the merger results in a high increase in competitive overlap, increasing embeddedness actually increases dissolution likelihood. Mechanisms to explain the findings are explored, including private information leakage fears and trust betrayal. The findings suggest that under certain conditions, relational embeddedness can reduce-rather than increase-relationship stability.

To reduce vulnerability to exchange relationship loss when executives leave, firms often form multiple ties to the same exchange partners. Despite the assumed importance of interorganizational multiplexity for relationship retention, theory and evidence of its effect are lacking. Analysis of a longitudinal sample of client ties of advertising firms confirms that in general multiplexity improves retention. However, only relationships that span intraorganizational units with convergent interests reduce the positive effect of advertising agency executive departures on client tie loss. The findings highlight the need to consider the implications of intraorganizational structure for theories of interorganizational relationship retention and suggest an additional rationale for the persistence of the holding company structure in professional services firms despite limited returns to scale.

Interorganizational relationships connect people affiliated with organizations rather than corporate actors themselves. The managers and owners of organizations therefore do not always control these connections and consequently often cannot profit from them. We discuss the circumstances under which individuals (versus organizations) own these relationships (and therefore also the social capital generated by them). Three factors increase the odds of individual ownership: (a) the extent to which the resources valued by alters belong to the individual (rather than the organization), (b) the degree to which alters feel greater indebtedness to the individual than to the organization, and (c) the extent to which relationships involve emotional attachment. We discuss the implications of the locus of ownership, argue that these distinctions can help explain many results that appear inconsistent on the surface, and call for future research to pay closer attention to these issues.