A Study of the Performativity of the “Ambidextrous Organizations” Theory: Neither Lost in nor Lost before Translation

Durisin, Boris; Todorova, Gergana

doi:10.1111/j.1540-5885.2012.00981.x

Cited by 46 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 130 publications

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“…Similar to March, 17 we define radical innovation as the capacity to pursue variation in existing knowledge, and incremental innovation as the capacity to refine and improve existing knowledge. As such, it addresses noted gaps in the literature that call for a more process-based perspective of the ambidextrous organization, 18 as our results emphasize the potential for social media crowdsourcing to enable dual exploration and exploitation processes during ideation stages of innovation.…”

supporting

confidence: 56%

Social Media: A Tool for Open Innovation

Mount¹,

Martínez²

2014

California Management Review

167

135

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Despite the exponential rise of social media use in external stakeholder engagement, academic research and managerial practice have paid little attention to how it can be used for open innovation across the entire innovation funnel, spanning ideation, R&D, and commercialization. As a result, there is little understanding of how companies can organize for and implement social media for open innovation. Utilizing a multiple case study design, this article examines its application across the entire innovation process. It proposes a range of organizational and technological adaptations that managers can implement to ensure they realize the innovative benefits of social media application. (Keywords: Social Media, Open Innovation, Ideation, R&D, Commercialization) T he use of social media to connect, interact, and collaborate with consumers has dramatically increased in recent years. According to Naylor, Lamberton, and West, by 2011 approximately 83% of Fortune 500 companies were using some form of social media to connect with consumers.1 Advances in internet, collaboration tools, and web 2.0 technologies have been the key driver of this transition, allowing firms to collaborate more easily and at low cost with large numbers of consumers.2 In particular, social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are increasingly being used as tools for external stakeholder engagement. 3 The increased outreach and richness offered by these platforms facilitates many-to-many interactions and are a powerful knowledge source. 4 Online communities let companies draw insights from a deep, diverse knowledge pool that can be applied to organizational innovation. 5 The community character promotes creativity and quality of contributions, since participants from different backgrounds with different areas of expertise, skills, and experiences can work together. 6 Howe describes this new paradigm "as everyday people using their spare cycles to create content, solve problems, even do corporate R&D. crisps. By understanding what consumers' value and engaging in active dialogue and interaction, companies are able to develop superior value propositions that are more relevant to their target audience. 8 On top, consumer's direct involvement in internal activities helps forge a deep emotional bond with the company that can lead to enhanced loyalty, satisfaction, and brand perceptions. 9 To date, research has focused on the business applications of social media in relation to marketing activities for increased equity and profitability, 10 as well as business analytics.11 Yet, despite the growing influence of social media on organizational processes, research is limited in examining its application to innovation, 12 particularly with regards to how social media can be used as a tool to facilitate open innovation and user collaboration at different stages of the innovation funnel-ideation, R&D, and commercialization. While there is a general understanding of the link between social networks and innovative activities with external stakeholders, 1...

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supporting

confidence: 56%

Social Media: A Tool for Open Innovation

Mount¹,

Martínez²

2014

California Management Review

167

135

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Thus, firms that may be great at exploring may not necessarily be good at exploiting (Chesbrough, Vanhaverbeke, and West, 2006). Other firms may have the opposite but equally daunting dilemma; their focus on exploiting innovations for existing customers prevents them from exploring more radical, innovative solutions for development (Durisin and Todorova, 2012). There is evidence that this was the case in the hard disk drive industry (Christensen and Rosenbloom, 1995).…”

Section: Literature Review and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a consequence, many firms tend to develop capabilities that enable them to develop exploitative innovations or exploratory innovations, but not both. However, doing so may put firms at a disadvantage; research suggest that firms that are ambidextrous or those that are able to develop both exploitative and exploratory innovations tend to perform better (Durisin and Todorova, ; O'Reilly and Tushman, , ). However, there has been little research that examines how firms can augment their exploration or exploitation capability (DiMasi, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making Up Is Hard to Do: Knowledge Acquisition Strategies and the Nature of New Product Innovation

Dunlap¹,

McDonough²,

Mudambi³

et al. 2015

J of Product Innov Manag

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Innovation creates significant challenges for firms in high‐technology industries. This article examines how the use of external knowledge acquired from mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and joint ventures (JVs) influence the nature of innovative competence in the global pharmaceutical industry. We create a unique database on never‐before approved products that measure the scientific merit of new, exploratory product innovations, ranging from radical to incremental. We then follow their market success by recording the number of new exploitative product innovations that stem from these product innovations and that are later approved and subsequently marketed. Using a large data set spanning a 15‐year period, we find that firms were able to “make up” for their lack of exploitation or exploration innovative capabilities through the use of M&As and JVs. These external knowledge acquisition strategies were found to overcome internal processes that otherwise could cause firms to overemphasize exploitation over exploration and vice versa. Our findings suggest that acquiring external knowledge via M&As is associated with diminished exploratory product innovation, while assimilating external knowledge sourced from JVs is associated with a reduction in new exploitative product innovation.

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“…Research has found that the ability to codify tacit knowledge as well as reliance on routines are radically different for different NPD tasks (Benner and Tushman, 2003;Durisin and Todorova, 2012). For example, Benner and Tushman (2003) found communication linkages varied by project type.…”

Section: Project Typementioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Benner and Tushman (2003) found communication linkages varied by project type. In their longitudinal study, Durisin and Todorova (2012) found two units pursuing radically different project types developed very different embedded routines.…”

Section: Project Typementioning

confidence: 99%

Who Knows What inNPDTeams: Communication Context, Mode, and Task Contingencies

Tang¹,

Mu²,

Thomas³

2014

J of Product Innov Manag

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The use of cross‐functional teams in new product development (NPD) benefits firms in many ways. One benefit is the diverse knowledge team members bring to the project, but that benefit can only be appreciated if team members fully utilize and integrate the differentiated expertise of members. As reliance on cross‐functional NPD teams grows, however, firms struggle to exploit the full potential of functionally diverse groups, the biggest obstacle being integrating team members' varied knowledge, expertise, and abilities. Therefore, understanding how information is integrated and used is a primary concern for both practitioners and researchers. Databases and other forms of hard data are methods team members can use to effectively share and integrate knowledge; another method based on social cognition is transactive memory systems (TMS). TMS indicates who will learn what and from whom. The notion is that knowledge is distributed among people in the group, and to make effective use of it, individuals need to know who knows what and who knows who knows what. Grounded in the knowledge‐based theory of the firm, this study investigates the influence of different communication contexts and modes on TMS under different NPD task environments (i.e., exploitation and exploration) in cross‐functional NPD teams. A theoretical model is developed and empirically tested using data collected from 272 ongoing NPD teams of 128 Chinese high‐tech companies. Findings suggest that when teams face tasks defined by exploration, informal communication and face‐to‐face communication are positively associated with TMS, whereas for tasks defined by exploitation, formal communication and computer‐mediated communication are positively related with TMS. Additionally, this study found that TMS is positively related to NPD performance both in terms of project performance and in terms of market performance. Based on these findings, theoretical and managerial implications are drawn regarding resource deployment that encourages the development of effective TMS leading to successful NPD projects.

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A Study of the Performativity of the “Ambidextrous Organizations” Theory: Neither Lost in nor Lost before Translation

Cited by 46 publications

References 130 publications

Social Media: A Tool for Open Innovation

Social Media: A Tool for Open Innovation

Making Up Is Hard to Do: Knowledge Acquisition Strategies and the Nature of New Product Innovation

Who Knows What inNPDTeams: Communication Context, Mode, and Task Contingencies

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