Ambidextrous supply chain in an emerging market: impacts on innovation and performance

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of an ambidextrous supply chain strategy on innovation and the firm's performance. This study also investigates the role of innovation as a mediating construct between ambidextrous supply chain and firm's performance. Drawing upon March's (1991) concept of exploration and exploitation, ambidextrous supply chain is conceptualised as the combination of an exploration and exploitation strategy. A web questionnaire survey was used in this work. Structural equation modelling was applied to test proposed hypotheses on the associations between variables. The findings show that an ambidextrous supply chain has a positive impact on innovation and firm's performance. Additionally, the impact of ambidextrous supply chain on firm's performance is higher when innovation is included as a mediator. This work seminally examines the effects of ambidextrous supply chain on firm's performance and the mediating role of innovation in the relationships between ambidextrous supply chain and firm's performance.

Ambidextrous organizations in and from emerging markets—Editors' special issue introduction

“…Further, with data from Italian SME's, Caputo et al (2019) conclude that multidisciplinary background; previous work experience and soft capabilities of human resources can have a positive impact on the economic performance of a company. Firms can also improve their performance through innovation by adopting ambidextrous supply chain (Asree, 2016).…”