Small information technology and management consulting businesses face increasingly contradictory strategic choices as they develop products and services for the marketplace. Building contextual ambidexterity is essential to the survival of small businesses as they seek to attain a desired balance of alignment and adaptability. Human Resource Management practices facilitate the development of ambidexterity within individuals thereby facilitating ambidexterity of the organization as a whole. Studies suggest that in order for an organization to be ambidextrous, its human resource management function also needs to ambidextrous. High-performance work systems are human resource practices designed to enhance the ability, motivation, and opportunity of employees with the overarching goal of attracting, retaining, and motivating human resources toward the completion of organizational goals. Based on Gibson and Birkinshaw’s concept of organizational ambidexterity, a qualitative case study of a small technology solution provider was conducted to explore the process by which CloudCo attempted to build contextual ambidexterity by implementing a high-performance work system. Findings show that executive management of small technology solution providers can build contextual ambidexterity and sustain a competitive advantage through the implementation of high-performance work systems but must overcome a series of important tensions to do so.

Introduction: Statistics show that a large number of companies struggle for their survival.About 20 % of the EU companies in all the different industries that were born in 2015 couldnot survive till 2016. More specifically, only less than half of the companies that were born in2011 are still active in 2016 (Eurostat, 2018). Moreover, corporate bankruptcies in Swedenincreased by 20 % in the years 2017 to 2018 compared to 2016 (Tillvaxtanalys, 2019 ).Therefore, the main challenge for managers is to consolidate short-term and long-termthinking, encourage visions while remaining focused on execution within employees. Problem background: While the current literature acknowledges both the importance oforganizational ambidexterity for companies’ survival, and the role played by managers todevelop ambidexterity, research on how to achieve such ambidexterity is still narrow.Moreover, the influence of the different leadership styles on contextual ambidexterity and itseffects on individuals have hardly been attended in the literature. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to develop an understanding on how leaders, throughambidextrous leadership styles, create a context that enables individuals to achieve contextualambidexterity. More specifically, this master’s thesis aims to define a conceptual frameworkthat shows the influence of the leadership styles on contextual ambidexterity Methodology: In order to answer our research question, a qualitative research was conductedwith a deductive approach. Eight Interviews, four managers and four employees, wereconducted in four project-based organizations within the software industry in Sweden. Findings: The key findings are that transformational leadership style was found to foster “trustand support” in social support, and “stretch” in performance management, while thetransactional leadership style was only found in discipline in the organizational context. Conclusions: This study shows how developing adaptability in an organization requiresmanagers to apply transformational leadership style to the social support dimensions of theorganizational context. On the other hand, developing alignment in an organization requiresmanagers to apply both transformation and transactional styles rather than transactional. Mangers also need to balance the intensity of their leadership styles as both styles need to be emphasized equally well.

Business organizations rely on exploitation and efficiency to provide short-term results and on exploration and innovation for their future viability. The ability to simultaneously exploit and explore has been termed organizational ambidexterity. Front-line managers who are able to encourage both exploitation and exploration from their employees should therefore be quite successful, but this is not an easy task. Managerial interventions seek to align the employees’ interests with the manager’s interests and therefore can be perceived as more controlling than enabling, thereby negatively impacting ambidexterity. This case study uses agency theory as a theoretical lens to understand managerial interventions that could focus attention on individual employees’ actions that are both exploitative and explorative in an enabling fashion to allow for success. The study advances managerial practice, addresses gaps in the literature on ambidexterity, and advocates development of a new management theory by recommending that managers focus their interactions into three sets of tasks, 1) those that connect the employee to the organization, 2) those that connect the manager to the employee, and 3) those that enable the employee to go forward and own their decisions, within these connections. We argue, this combination of interventions work together to encourage an environment of both exploitation and exploration, or contextual ambidexterity, with the opportunity to be successful in both the short-term and into the future.

Yes / This paper utilizes insights from the knowledge-based view and ambidexterity literature to examine the effects of knowledge integration (KI) on innovation via contextual ambidexterity (CA). The paper also investigates the potential moderating role of human resource (HR) slack on the relationship between KI and CA. Using survey data collected from 245 entrepreneurial firms operating in Ghana, the findings show that KI positively relates to CA, and this relationship is moderated by HR slack. In addition, we observed that CA mediates KI and innovation. The broader theoretical and practical implications of the study are outlined.

A growing body of research investigates the role that organizational learning plays in generating superior firm performance. Researchers, however, have given limited attention to this learning effect in the context of long-term interorganizational relationships. This paper focuses on a specific aspect of learning, that is, explorative and exploitative knowledge sharing, and examines its impacts on sustained performance. We examine interorganizational design mechanisms and digitally-enabled knowledge representation as antecedents of knowledge sharing. The empirical context is dyadic relationship between a supply chain solutions vendor and its customers for two major classes of supply chain services. Our theoretical predictions are tested by using data collected from both sides of this customer-vendor dyad. The findings suggest that dual emphasis on exploration and exploitation is important for sustained relationship performance for customers. The customer evaluates balancing exploration and exploitation important whereas the vendor emphasizes only on exploitation.

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組織在持續發展的進程中會逐漸的由有機型轉而為機械型組織的狀態，然而隨著外在環境趨向超競爭的型態，使其核心技術將有過時之虞，所以組織必須成立新部門以隨時觀察並利用外在之機會，因此組織內新舊部門並列的現象成為企業運作實務的常態。不過新舊部門之間並非必然只能夠各自獨立運作，其間能夠透過持續倡導「可容納新舊部門」的願景下，讓新舊部門透過組織高層主持的跨部委員會之居中協調達到提升彼此績效之正向螺旋效果，如此之組織形式在文獻上稱為「雙面式組織」。 本研究之進行首先由內而外探討雙面式組織定義與內在核心構成要素：其核心概念分為由高層主導之結構性雙面式思維，其用意在於由高層設立跨部會機制以影響成員行為，而系絡性雙面式思維在於由基層員工主動引導跨部會行動，進而影響高層做出相對應之措施，而以上概念對應外在的組織構成形式則可分為結構性、系絡性與混合結構與系絡性之雙面式組織三種；而其間之知識管理模式主要概念在於「先讓成員從共同擬定價值觀，之後再使成員自發性的針對議題進分享彼此知識並進一步及於知識的整合與創造」。 接續以NTT DoCoMo研發i-mode系統為例，說明雙面式組織在企業實務運作之「從封閉平台之電信加值思維到開放平台之網路創值思維」的策略重思考、「透過具跨部門性質之策略性社群與凝聚各策略性社群共識之領導性策略事業群」的組織轉型與「主持策略性社群內 / 間互動與雙面式組織內部之知識發掘、擴散與累積」之變革管理的議題，並透過對個案評論與不同個案之輔助以期使雙面式組織之具體運作使說明更為全面。 在個案描述與評論之後，本研究針對雙面式組織的運行提出以下的三個推論：第一，組織高層應在可容納新舊部門思維之共同目標前提下，確立新舊部門之間的分工與合作機制，以免新舊部門因為彼此爭利而落得兩敗俱傷的局面；第二，在雙面式組織的有效運作中，各社群領導人富有包容力的領導方式與具備前瞻性的領導眼光是其成功的關鍵；第三，組織結構式雙面性與系絡式雙面性思維之運作過程是一體兩面且環環相扣，而且當雙面式組織的運作模式被長期使用時，組織內部的運作會同時包含以上所提及之兩種思維。 / As time goes by, organizational structure will be transformed from organic to mechanic form. However, organization must start a new division because the condition of hyper-competition would make core technology become obsolete. Therefore it is so common that new and old divisions co-exist in an organization, but they are not necessarily operated independently. Between them can both attain higher positive-spiral performance through the cross-division committee under “compatible of new and old divisions” vision and such the organizational structure is called “Ambidextrous Organization” in literatures. In this research, ambidextrous organization will be discussed from inner sides to outer ones: starting from the definition and core composing thoughts: structural ambidexterity, which means training employees’ behaviors to be ambidextrous through structural changes, and contextual ambidexterity, which means upper managers’ ambidextrous actions are stimulated from middle or lower employees. Following the core composing parts matches not only the external structural forms: structural ambidextrous organization, contextual ambidextrous organization, and organization which mix the thoughts of structural and contextual ambidexterity but also the process from value resonance of co-workers to knowledge sharing and creation. Following the case analyzing method will be used to explain the operation of ambidextrous organization putting into practice: Take NTT DoCoMo for instance, this research will show the strategic rethinking of” from close platform of telecom value-added concept to open platform of internet value-creation concept”, the corporate transformation of” cross-divisional strategic community and leadership-based strategic community which converge a common consensus of all strategic communities” and the change management of” directing the interaction among strategic communities and knowledge discovering, distributing, and accumulating”. Case comment and other supportive cases will be mentioned to fully analyze the concrete operation of ambidextrous organization. After the case description and comment, this research will further propose three propositions: First, high level managers should take visions comparable of new and old divisions or they would be in serious wrangling over the resources. Second, considerate and visionary leading competence is the key to successfully managing the operation of ambidextrous organization. Third, structural and contextual ambidexterity thoughts are interactive and mutual-inclusive, especially when using the system of ambidextrous organization for a long time.