Enterprise risk management (ERM) is a widely studied management control process, representing an important advancement from the traditional methods by which firms control the risks they face. This study steps back from attempts to quantify the relationship between ERM and firm performance. Instead, it explores how non-financial institutions with significant time and resource commitments to ERM configure those resources to effectuate a downside-upside duality as ERM is adopted, using for the first time in ERM research the theoretical lens of ambidexterity as a dynamic capability. This duality is the simultaneous engagement in mitigating existing and emerging risks while pursuing new value contributions from risk management processes. Empirical evidence indicates that the downside-upside duality is asymmetric, and challenges exist in quantifying the upside. The upside value component is most closely associated with raising the level of the risk discourse in firms. This is accomplished structurally by establishing new ERM-focused organizational subunits, and contextually by stretching capabilities. Dynamic capabilities emerge as firms sense, seize and reconfigure resources in the operationalization of ERM to supplant core competencies associated with traditional modes of risk management. Practitioners will gain from this research a richer understanding of the fit, form and function of ERM informed by empirical data and extrinsic theory.

Organizational ambidexterity is a widely researched and known phenomenon amongst academics; however there are still research gaps. Most of the studies are in private sector; however, lately researchers have called for more studies in the public sector. The purpose of this dissertation is to explain casual relationships between different leadership styles and their influence on organizational ambidexterity in public sector organization. The dissertation use a positivistic philosophy and a deductive approach; hence, a cross sectional design is used. The quantitative method chosen was a web based survey, distributed by e-mail to 171 managers operating in waste management and water and sewerage industries in the Swedish public sector. The findings of the study are that are that it is not possible to differentiate a higher level of organizational ambidexterity in any public organizational form. Another finding is that organizational ambidexterity can be positively influenced by managerial leadership in the local government administration The limitations of this dissertation are that only two industries are included and that the results cannot be generalized for other populations due to a small sample. The implications of this study are that organizational ambidexterity is a concept that is present in the public sector and can be influenced by managerial leadership under certain circumstances

This study diagnoses performance in a mature manufacturing company based on an inquiry into contextual ambidexterity. Previous research has shown that creating a high performance context is founded upon the constructs of performance management and social support; however, this research has been conducted in fast evolving, relatively young companies such as software design firms. To date, no research has shown if a well established manufacturing firm can create a context with high levels of performance management and social support establishing a high performance environment and therefore be contextually ambidextrous. The presented contextual ambidexterity inquiry considers social support based upon four specific types of support, namely emotional, appraisal, informational, and instrumental support. Within social support, the concepts of trust and burnout are also vital in establishing the proper culture to achieve high performance. Further, performance management is founded upon human capital management established in a suitable corporate culture. In this study, this approach to a contextual ambidexterity inquiry is applied within the context of a U.S. based division of a global manufacturing company based on a survey, participant observation, and individual interviews. The research contributes to both the academic and practitioner environments with a greater understanding of the antecedents of high performance in an environment outside that of a young, fast evolving software firms. Further, it is shown that a high performance context may exist within organizations that are vastly different from those previously studied. In addition, this study offers an approach to a contextual ambidexterity inquiry with refined definitions and measures based on established constructs as well as new constructs. The implications of these additions to our understanding of contextual ambidexterity to both academia and practice are discussed and several avenues of future research are proposed.

There are commercial imperatives for companies to consider low-income markets for expansion. This research study investigated how firms, who traditionally focused on the upper- and middle-income markets, were adapting to operating in dual markets, an ability termed ‘ambidexterity’. While there is abundant research available on ambidexterity, this construct has not been studied in the context of the low-income market.The primary aim of this study was to explore the tensions that existed for firms exploring the low-income market and how firms went about resolving these tensions. A deductive research approach was followed and 23 managers, representing 14 companies across eight commercial sectors, were interviewed using semi-structured interviews and qualitative research methodology. The data was analysed using content, thematic and narrative analysis techniques.A central finding of this research study was that companies needed committed leaders to help resolve tensions for the firm and create the balance between exploring low-income markets and exploiting the traditional markets. Change management was found to be a critical integration technique to help resolve tensions between the “explore” and “exploit” business units.The outcome of this research adds to the theory base of both low-income markets and ambidexterity. It also provides a decision-making framework for firms who are considering the organisational requirements for the exploration of low-income markets. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Organizational Ambidexterity är ett relativt nyuppkommit begrepp och få undersökningar har gjorts kring ämnet. De tidigare undersökningar som har bedrivits har främst fokuserat på hur ledarskap framkallar Organizational Ambidexterity. Tidigare undersökning har även forskat i hur dess komponenter, utforskande och bearbetande, kan samexistera i en organisation då de två komponenterna konkurrerar om samma resurser. För att vända blicken bort från ledarens roll i en organisation att inverka på Organizational Ambidexterity, har studien fokuserat på belöningssystemets inflytande på Organizational Ambidexterity med bankorganisationer som objekt.   Belöningssystem förekommer i både finansiell och icke-finansiell form. Finansiella belöningar kan tillkännages som en transaktion utav finansiell ersättning vid utfört arbete. Icke-finansiell belöning är ersättning vilket inte medför direkta kostnader för en organisation. Det kan ske i form av utbildning eller beröm från chefen.   Studien har genomförts på så vis att de empiriska material som frambringats ska förklara om och i så fall vilka belöningssystem som motiverar organisationen att arbete i både en utforskande och bearbetande kapacitet för att uppnå Organizational Ambidexterity. Detta för att uppnå konkurrensfördelar på marknaden.   Teorin stödjer sig på att finansiella belöningar leder till en mer bearbetande kapacitet och icke-finansiella belöningar framkallar en mer utforskande kapacitet. De empiriska material som samlats in stödjer inte detta resonemang till fullo då det visat sig att finansiella belöningar inte används i en större utsträckning och att det inte heller leder till en mer bearbetande kapacitet. Emellertid användes de icke-finansiella belöningarna i en större utsträckning och har till viss del påvisat att det inverkar över organisationens förmåga att arbeta i en utforskande kapacitet. / Organizational Ambidexterity is a relatively new concept and few studies have been done on the subject. Previous studies have focused on how leadership develops Organizational Ambidexterity. Previous investigations have also done research into how its components, exploration and exploitation, can co-exist in an organization where the two components compete for the same resources. To turn your gaze away from the leaders’ role in organizations and how they affect Organizational Ambidexterity, this study has focused on the reward systems influence on Organizational Ambidexterity with the banking organizations as an object.   Reward systems are present in both financial and non-financial terms. Financial rewards are transactions of financial compensation for work performed. Non-financial rewards are compensation which does not involve direct costs to an organization. It may take the form of training or appreciation from the boss.   This study was conducted in such a way that the empirical material that has emerged will explain if and how the reward systems motivate the organization to work in both an exploration and exploitation capacity to achieve Organizational Ambidexterity. This is done in order achieve competitive advantages in the market.   The theory relies on that financial rewards will lead to more exploitative capacity and non-financial rewards elicit more exploratory capability. The empirical material collected does not support this argument in full, since it was found that financial rewards are not used to a greater extent and that financial rewards does not lead to a more exploitative capacity. However, the use of non-financial rewards to a greater extent has partially demonstrated an impact on the organizations ability to work in an exploratory capacity.

The ability of firms to innovate has become a cornerstone in the economy of many developed and developing countries. The performance of firms is not exclusively linked to their internal capability. Other external factors, such as technology, globalisation of the market, knowledge, and evolving approaches to value offering, force them to constantly change their approaches to wealth creation. Innovation is vital for firms’ competitive advantage. Hence, a firm with higher innovation prosperity compared to its rivals has a crucial advantage that enables it to compete in local and global markets. However, innovation is a complex phenomenon, and a holistic view is required for a deep understanding of the factors that influence firms’ innovation performance. Day after day, markets are becoming more dynamic, increasing the necessity to understand how such momentum affects innovation performance. With a focus on how they develop strategic routines that enhance their assessment of opportunities and resource-configuration capabilities, firms may better align their products and services with market demands. Using state-of-the-art dynamic-capability theory, this research highlights the routines of firms that influence their abilities to acquire and multiply knowledge and technology consistent with market status, leading to more novel and successful innovative products and processes as well as better economic advantage. This research aims to provide a framework that comprises factors that may influence Saudi firms’ innovation performance. Furthermore, the research aim attempts to understand the impact of information technology on firms’ innovation performance. The research is based on survey data from 203 Saudi firms registered at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The empirical results suggest that firms may enhance their ability to acquire, assimilate, transform, and exploit knowledge by increasing their breadth of knowledge sources and by internationalizing their searching activities for knowledge and skills. Moreover, both explorative and exploitative innovation strategies, although paradoxes, are significant to increasing firms’ overall innovative performance. Mutually, information technology (IT) plays a critical role in complementing firms’ dynamic capabilities through better provision of IT infrastructure, while IT effectiveness and IT flexibility are vital to increasing firms’ abilities to maintain both long-term and short-term competitiveness.

Formulating consistent marketing strategies is a difficult task, but successfully implementing them is even more challenging. This is even more pertinent as marketing strategies quite often incorporate inherent conflicts between major breakthroughs and consolidation. Consequently, marketers need to balance exploratory and exploitative strategies. However, the literature lacks concrete insights for marketing managers as to how exploratory and exploitative strategies can be best combined. This paper addresses this issue by introducing a framework of multiple types of ambidexterity. Based on qualitative research, tools and procedures are identified to overcome marketing dilemmas and support strategy implementation by drawing on ambidextrous designs. (authors' abstract)

Previous research shows that a good balance between focus on development of existing processes with development of new and innovative products, processes or services has a positive effect on organizational excellence. However, the relationship between these two quality perspectives is not easy to maintain and it is a challenge for every organization to find an appropriate balance between them. Previous research shows also that there is often a striking overemphasis on continuous improvement and stepwise refinement at the expense of working with innovations. Consequently, it has become necessary to find forms for development of the balance between improvement of existing processes and innovations. It is a question of how to manage both exploitation (improvement of existing processes) and exploration (innovations). Being able to manage both exploitation and exploration and maintain a good balance is known as organizational ambidexterity. The purpose of this thesis is to develop existing knowledge of how organisational ambidexterity and innovation can be understood and developed as an approach to increasing customer value in the context of the public sector. In order to meet the purpose, the research behind this thesis was conducted through six studies. The results have been presented in six scientific articles. The analytical focus in the research has been on management of public organization. Thus, the unit of analysis has been public sector management both at national, regional and municipal level. The studies have been conducted with a qualitative approach and data collection has primarily been done through semi- structured interviews. Most of the data has been collected in Sweden. Through the studies, it appears that the current quality practice in the Swedish public sector to a large extent relates to and supports exploitation, but not exploration. The empirical findings give examples of organizations that have a large focus on systematic measurement and control of the work process. An inhibition of increased customer value is indicated in the studied organizations’ current emphasis on exploitation at the expense of exploration. The research also shows that there are a number of impediments for the public organizations studied to combine their current quality practice with an improved ability to explore. It appears that there is a need for development of the leeway for exploration in order to increase the ability to be ambidextrous. The research behind this thesis empirically identifies a number of enablers the public organization may need to work actively with in order to develop organizational ambidexterity. Some of these enabling factors harmonize with quality movement core values. This applies to core values like committed leadership, focus on customers and a holistic system perspective. In addition, the following factors are perceived to be enabling factors for organizational ambidexterity: specific budgets for both exploration and exploitation; development of a culture in which employees feel that they are allowed to make mistakes; a good dialogue both internally and with external stake holders; focusing on the implementation of innovations and clear incentives for work on exploration as well as for work on exploitation. Finally, the empirical data also shows that an enabling factor is to get different professions involved in explorative processes. This can be achieved by working through ambassadors who can promote the explorative processes. The enablers, which have been empirically identified in this research as important for organizational ambidexterity, have also previously been identified by scholars as enablers for innovations. The research behind this thesis contributes to the empirical sorting out which - out of a wide range of factors - may be the most important factors for organizational ambidexterity. / <p>Vid tidpunkten för disputationen var följande delarbeten opublicerade: delarbete 6 accepterat.</p><p>At the time of the doctoral defence the following papers were unpublished: paper 6 accepted.</p>

Thesis advisor: Mary Ann Glynn / This dissertation examines the decline and re-emergence of the Swiss mechanical watch industry from 1970-2008, exploring how, when, and why market demand for legacy technologies resurrect and reshape a mature field. Extending existing research on technology emergence and death, I reveal the dynamics of technology and field re-emergence. I focus on the mechanisms of identity and institutional change associated with re-emergence, as well as how institutional leaders and guardians serve as agents of change who simultaneously preserve and reframe the values and product conceptions associated with a legacy technology. Additionally, I advance the notion of identity ambidexterity by examining how organizations explore and exploit multiple elements of their identity simultaneously during such periods of instability. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, I analyze a wide range of interview, archival, historical, and observational data at the levels of the industry and the organization. More broadly, I seek to demonstrate how the reclamation of legacy identities reshapes the institutional environment of a mature field, and how incumbent firms re-define their organizational identities after a technological innovation threatens to destroy their dominant market position. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Management and Organization.

This dissertation seeks to relieve theoretical tension between organizational ambidexterity and network perspectives by developing a contingent model of firm-level exploration and exploitation. The central proposition of this model is firms need to both effectively explore and exploit to succeed but that inter-organizational network features supporting one of these activities are detrimental to the other. This model indicates firms can resolve this apparent paradox by configuring their networks contingent on the particular goals of these networks. In the context of technology commercialization, I hypothesize firms should benefit by configuring their inter-organizational networks to gather novel information when seeking to discover new technologies but gather redundant information when seeking to bring these new discoveries to market. I test these hypotheses with a unique panel data set of firms active in publishing, patenting, and commercializing technologies in the field of green chemistry. My empirical results largely support these hypothesized relationships.