Ambidextrous Leadership: Direct and Indirect Effects of Behavioral Complexity

Prior research has emphasized the pivotal role of managers in developing ambidexterity at the unit level, i.e. within and across a single business unit or small to medium-sized enterprise (SME). While some researchers suggest that behaviorally complex managers reconcile the opposing forces of exploration and exploitation directly, others propose that they foster both activities indirectly by framing an ambidextrous organizational context. We hypothesize that these direct and indirect processes are not independent alternatives, but are interrelated. Based on a two-sample survey study, we find that SME managers affect unit-level ambidexterity directly and indirectly, while those of larger corporations’ business units only have an indirect effect. Our study extends and reconciles prior research on managerial and contextual ambidexterity, as well as theory on individual-level and unit-level ambidexterity. Further, we encourage future research on whether different types of organizational units require different paths to ambidexterity.