Ambidexterity in Inter-Firm Relationships: Governance Structures and Knowledge Processes

Research has paid scant attention to how firms achieve ambidexterity within inter-organizational relationships. In this study, we argue that firms make use of distinct governance mechanisms that arise from different inter-firm relationship types to enable exploitative and explorative knowledge processes. Drawing upon an inductive study of cooperative new product development projects, we find that vertical relationships with suppliers were related to high levels of formal control and low levels of partner integration. This contributed to unilateral exploitation and exploration processes. Conversely, horizontal relationships with competitors were related to high levels of partner integration and low levels of formal control. This contributed to mutual exploitation and exploration processes. While both types of inter-firm relationships may enable ambidexterity, firms have to select the type of relationship that provides a supportive configuration of governance mechanisms for the desired knowledge processes.