The Emergent Process of Ambidexterity

Prior research on ambidexterity has assumed that senior executives are responsible for defining the appropriate mix of exploitation and exploration in their organizations, and for designing the necessary mechanisms (formal structure or behavioural context) for implementing these choices. Based on a qualitative comparative case study of four alliances, we show how this designed process of ambidexterity can be complemented with an alternative emergent process of ambidexterity in which front-line managers take the initiative to change the mix of exploitation and exploration in their part of the organization. We use the findings from our case study to develop generalizable observations on the nature, mechanisms, and enablers of the emergent process of ambidexterity. We then put forward a novel integrative framework, identifying four ideal types of ambidexterity, and offering some conjectures on how they are observed in practice.