Managing the paradox of exploitation and exploration symbolises the simultaneous pursuit devoting enough resources to exploitation to ensure short-term profits and, at the same time, enough resources to exploration to ensure future organisational viability. Previous researchadvocates that sustained organisational performance and success highly depends on the interaction of exploitation and exploration or in other words, the balancing act between change and continuity. To strategically balance these contradictory requirements is a challenging task for most organisations since exploitation and exploration require fundamentally different organisational structures, processes, strategies and capabilities. Organisations that possess the ability to balance these contradictory requirements are referred to as ambidextrous organisations, what is evident is however that different ambidextrous strategies bring several distinctive challenges that organisations explicitly must deal with. Past literature advocates that management constitute an important part in creating organisational ambidexterity, but has nevertheless due to differentiations in organisational contexts resulted in ambiguous guidance in how to practically solve the tensions between exploitation and exploration. Scania the initiator of this thesis project, one of the world´s leading manufacturers within trucksand buses for heavy transport applications is sensing uncertainty in what undoubtedly used to be a relatively stable environment. Continues improvements has been a fundamental strategy in R&D for decades but in the face of a potentially disruptive technological shift, Scania senses urgency to leverage the innovation capability they possess, to reclaim the exploration space in order to act and seize upon these uncertainties. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how management can support and sustain the exploration space in a mature R&D department. This study builds upon a qualitative case study limited to a specific R&D department, Truck Chassis Development. To draw parallels and provide a deepened understanding of how the specific context of the organisation affect section managers at Truck Chassis Development in supporting and enabling exploration, interview data from several departments at R&D and sales & marketing is analysed. Results from this research show that there is an overall pressure for exploitation in R&D in general, and that section management encounter several challenges in supporting and sustaining the exploration space. An overall pressure for delivery precision crowds out time for exploration and present performance measurements are found to further add to this challenge since they are, to a large extent designed to measure and follow-up the relatively more certain and superior benefits from exploitation, implying that they tend to induce and support exploitative activities. The research findings provide managerial implications in terms of directing attention towards exploration through measurements of exploration. / Att balansera innovationsparadoxen syftar till den organisatoriska förmågan att tillägna tillräckliga resurser för exekvering för att säkerställa kortsiktig vinst, och samtidigt, tillägna tillräckliga resurser till utforskande för att säkra ett strategiskt framtida läge. Tidigare forskning visar att organisationers långsiktiga överlevnad är beroende av dessa avvägningar, att leverera produkter med högt kundvärde är viktigt för dagens affär men får inte göras på bekostnad av att utforska möjligheter som kan resultera i framtida innovationer. Att strategiskt balansera dessa två perspektiv utgör en stor utmaning för alla organisationer eftersom att exekvering och utforskande aktiviteter kräver helt olika förutsättningar när det kommer till strukturer, processer och strategier. Företag som besitter förmågan att balansera dessa två helt olika perspektiv brukar refereras som tvehänta. Tvehänta organisationer har visat sig balansera dessa två perspektiv på olika sätt, vilka alla medför utmaningar, dock av olika slag. Tidigare forskning har betonat ledarskap och chefskap som viktiga faktorer i skapandet av tvehänta organisationer men har på grund av organisatoriska differentieringar och olikheter resulterat i vaga riktlinjer angående hur man praktiskt löser de utmaningar som uppstår mellan exekverande och utforskande aktiviteter. Scania, initiativtagare till detta arbete är ett av världens ledande tillverkare inom lastbil och buss för tunga transporter. Scania känner osäkerhet i vad som brukade vara en således stabil bransch. Ständiga förbättringar har varit en betydelsefull strategi i decennier för forskning och utveckling, FoU, men inför ett eventuellt teknikskifte inser man att en betydligt större del av arbetet måste syfta till utforskande aktiviteter. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka hur management kan möjliggöra och främja utforskande aktiviteter i en mogen FoU-avdelning. Den utförda forskningen grundar sig i en kvalitativ fallstudie som är avgränsad till en specifik FoUavdelning, chassiutveckling för lastbil. För att få en djupare förståelse för ledarskap och det ledarskapsansvar som finns i att främja och stödja utforskande aktiviteter kräver vissa organisatoriska förutsättningar har ett flertal avdelningar inom FoU-organisationen samt sälj & marknad inkluderats i studien. Den utförda forskningen visar att chefer på den undersökta avdelningen möter av ett flertal utmaningar när de försöker möjliggöra och främja utforskande aktiviteter. Det grundar sig främst i ett högt focus på leveransprecision som begränsar chefer i sin roll att stödja och främja utforskande aktiviteter, följden av detta resulterar i begränsat med tid för utforskande eftersom dessa aktiviteter inte prioriteras. Nuvarande prestationsmätning visar indikationer på att ytterligare bidra till dessa utmaningar eftersom de avser att mäta till den största grad, leveransprecision, kvalité och kostnad och där utforskande aktiviteter saknar prestationsmätning. Resultatet av denna studie bidrar med praktiska implikationer för den studerade avdelningen. Eftersom att uppmärksamhet är den mest begränsade resursen har mätvärden för utforskande aktiviteter föreslagits då mätning och styrning av utforskande aktiviteter kan bidra till att dessa aktiviteter uppmärksammas samtidigt som de kan utgöra ett stöd för sektionscheferna i deras roll att främja och stödja utforskande aktiviteter.

<p><p>The ability to deal with change gains in importance due to the fast moving environment. The current crisis reveals that it is not sufficient for companies to react. They need to be prepared and implement change continuously. The significance of Change Management is justified as the competence to deal with change can be considered decisive for gaining competitive advantage. Organizations need to change in order to sustain.</p><p>Several theories and concepts exist to increase an organization's efficiency in terms of handling changes. The theoretical framework is settled on four issues within Change Management: change, drivers for change, implementation and roles in an organization. It is of prior importance to identify the nature of the specific change as well as the driving forces for it.</p><p>By this, information for the implementation process is provided. We present strategies for implementing and also steps or ingredients which have to be unconditionally considered. We try to point out some facilitators for implementation such as organizational learning.</p><p>We finally describe four key roles that are  influencing implementation of change. However, we especially focus on leaders and employees and compare top-down and bottom-up implementation.</p><p>We proceed with the same basis of four parts to analyze the discussions we led with change agents.</p><p>Finally we propose key factors we believe that organizations need to lead a change process successfully.</p></p>

The ability to deal with change gains in importance due to the fast moving environment. The current crisis reveals that it is not sufficient for companies to react. They need to be prepared and implement change continuously. The significance of Change Management is justified as the competence to deal with change can be considered decisive for gaining competitive advantage. Organizations need to change in order to sustain. Several theories and concepts exist to increase an organization's efficiency in terms of handling changes. The theoretical framework is settled on four issues within Change Management: change, drivers for change, implementation and roles in an organization. It is of prior importance to identify the nature of the specific change as well as the driving forces for it. By this, information for the implementation process is provided. We present strategies for implementing and also steps or ingredients which have to be unconditionally considered. We try to point out some facilitators for implementation such as organizational learning. We finally describe four key roles that are  influencing implementation of change. However, we especially focus on leaders and employees and compare top-down and bottom-up implementation. We proceed with the same basis of four parts to analyze the discussions we led with change agents. Finally we propose key factors we believe that organizations need to lead a change process successfully.

New Product Development is vital to the performance of high-tech firms given the rapid change in technology and markets that they face. Drawing on the ambidexterity literature this study focuses on how firms can employ Ambidextrous Market Learning (AML), that is, the use of exploratory and exploitative market learning strategies simultaneously, to develop successful innovative products. Despite the exponential growth of studies focusing on ambidexterity, the literature portrays the ambidexterity concept as a present or absent like phenomena. However, in the current study, AML is conceptualised as a continuum of market knowledge that acts as a key source essential in creating customer value in the form of new products. Whilst research into ambidexterity contains abundant evidence of the positive effects of ambidexterity on firm performance, yet there is little discussion in the literature on the effects of AML on product advantage and the role of product innovativeness. A conceptual model comprising the relationship between AML, product advantage and product innovativeness is developed and empirically tested using 178 UK-based high-tech firms. The findings indicate that AML firms tend to develop products that have high product advantage. The study further focuses on how product innovativeness and product advantage constructs interact to create new product financial performance. Findings also suggest that marketing and technological discontinuity (product innovativeness from the firm s perspective) respectively has a negative and a positive moderating impact on product advantage. In addition, modelling product innovativeness from the customers perspective (customer discontinuity) in the same model sheds new light on the relationship between product advantage, product innovativeness and product performance. By further examining the moderating effects of marketing and technological discontinuity on the link between AML and product advantage, the analyses reveals the different scenarios in which the benefits of AML firms may outweigh its implementation cost.

Submitted by Aline Batista (alinehb.ufpel@gmail.com) on 2016-09-09T18:32:56Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertação Cátia R. Muller.pdf: 1509435 bytes, checksum: d2b9804b321a60ec7c07940a334758b3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Aline Batista (alinehb.ufpel@gmail.com) on 2016-09-09T18:33:14Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertação Cátia R. Muller.pdf: 1509435 bytes, checksum: d2b9804b321a60ec7c07940a334758b3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Aline Batista (alinehb.ufpel@gmail.com) on 2016-09-09T18:33:24Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertação Cátia R. Muller.pdf: 1509435 bytes, checksum: d2b9804b321a60ec7c07940a334758b3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-09T18:33:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertação Cátia R. Muller.pdf: 1509435 bytes, checksum: d2b9804b321a60ec7c07940a334758b3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-18 / Sem bolsa / O cenário mercadológico apresenta desafios, que provocam estudiosos interessados no entendimento das estratégias mais eficazes e gestores que visam a manutenção dos empreendimentos, projetando-os por meio da influência do ambiente para manter vantagem competitiva. Dessa forma, objetivo desse estudo foi analisar a orientação empreendedora, as capacidades dinâmicas e desempenho organizacional, mediados pela incerteza e pela munificência ambiental, em cervejarias artesanais do Brasil. Com isso, buscou-se subsídios na teoria para dar aporte para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa. A metodologia utilizada é do tipo quantitativa, sendo a estratégia survey. A amostra contou com 102 cervejarias artesanais analisadas, que contemplou diversos estados do país, sendo que a maioria das empresas é do Rio Grande do Sul e está há menos de 5 anos no mercado, e os respondentes são na maior parte sócios-proprietários e do gênero masculino. Para a análise dos dados, foi utilizado o programa MPlus, no qual foi realizada a análise fatorial confirmatória para verificar o ajuste das variáveis aos construtos teóricos. Na sequência, foi realizada a modelagem de equações estruturais dos construtos para os testes das hipóteses. Os resultados identificam que a relação da orientação empreendedora é positiva com desempenho. A munificência e a incerteza ambiental influenciam a relação da orientação empreendedora com o desempenho. Já as associações relacionadas à capacidade ambidestra e turística com o desempenho não foram confirmadas, o que impossibilitou verificar a influência do ambiente nessa relação. Da mesma forma, a verificação da mediação das capacidades ambidestra e turística na relação entre orientação empreendedora e desempenho não foi realizada porque não foram confirmadas as relação das capacidades com o desempenho. Recomenda-se para pesquisas posteriores a ampliação da amostra para outros países, e sugere-se que seja verificada cada uma das dimensões da orientação empreendedora (proatividade, inovatividade, e assunção de riscos), e da capacidade ambidestra (ações de exploração e explotação) com desempenho. / The market scenario presents challenges that cause scholars interested in understanding the most effective strategies and managers that are aimed at maintaining the projects, projecting them through environmental influence to maintain competitive advantage. Thus, objective of this study was to analyze the entrepreneurial orientation, dynamic capabilities and organizational performance, mediated by uncertainty and environmental munificence in craft breweries in Brazil. Thus, it sought to subsidies in theory to give contribution to the development of research. The methodology used is of quantitative type, and the survey strategy. The sample had 102 craft breweries analyzed, which included several states, with most companies is from Rio Grande do Sul and is less than five years in the market, and respondents are mostly members-owners and male gender. For data analysis, we used the MPlus program, which was carried out confirmatory factor analysis to check the fit of the variables to the theoretical constructs. Following the structural equation modeling of the constructs for hypothesis testing was performed. The results identify that the relationship of entrepreneurial orientation is positive with performance. The munificence and environmental uncertainty influence the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation with performance. The associations related ambidextrous and tourist capacity with performance have not been confirmed, which made it impossible to verify the influence of the environment in this relationship. Similarly, checking the mediation of ambidextrous and tourist capacities in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and performance was not carried out because they were not confirmed the relationship of capacity with the performance. It is recommended for further research on a larger sample to other countries, and it is suggested to be checked each of the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation (proactivity, innovativeness and risk-taking), and ambidextrous capacity (operating actions and exploitation) with performance.

Leaders in the healthcare setting are challenged with competing responsibilities as they seek to provide high-quality services, ensure the implementation of safety measures, and engage in workforce maintenance. Many researchers have described innovation as a strategic approach to organizational concerns and have noted a failure to implement innovative measures in healthcare. This study was an investigation of the impact of ambidexterity in healthcare leaders on innovation. The purpose of this quantitative study, guided by the ambidexterity theory of leadership for innovation, was to analyze the extent to which ambidextrous leadership characteristics of healthcare executives and chief nursing officers (CNOs) influence the innovative performance of CNOs in the healthcare setting. The research question addressed which ambidextrous leadership behaviors or combination of behaviors, including open and closed behaviors of healthcare executives and exploration and exploitation actions of CNOs in healthcare settings, explain a statistically significant portion of the variance in innovative performance of CNOs. The research design involved the administration of a cross-sectional quantitative survey to 126 CNOs from across the nation. Each participant was employed by an acute-care hospital, held an active nursing license in the state employed, and had been in the role of CNO or chief nursing executive (CNE) for over a year, reporting directly to executive leadership. A linear multiple regression analyzed the correlation between ambidextrous factors and the effect on performance innovation. Findings suggest that a combination of ambidextrous behaviors had more impact on innovation performance than each set of behaviors alone. The results of the study may be used for the development of nursing leadership and supporting efforts for overall improvement in healthcare.

In order to respond to the changing demands of the business environment, organizations need to develop a higher degree of flexibility in relation to the market and prevailing competition. One way for organizations to become more adjustable is to adopt flexible ways of working that promote innovation. A dominant approach for this is agile methods. Although the basic values and principles of agile methods were initially formulated for work processes linked to software development, an interest in integrating the work method into other functions and industries beyond IT has emerged. An integration and usage of agile methods can, however, give rise to paradoxical tensions as it is challenging to combine organizational needs for stability with agile methods' emphasis on flexibility. The balance between stability and flexibility is highlighted as important and is described as organizational ambidexterity. This study aimed to investigate the integration and usage of agile methods in an organizational context and how to balance stability and flexibility to manage paradoxical tensions. To answer the study's purpose, a qualitative method has been conducted with semi-structured interviews within the chosen organization. The data has been analyzed with James March's (1991) theory Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning and Tushman and O'reilly's (1996) theoretical framework Ambidextrous Organizations. The result shows that there are both external and internal motives for integrating agile methods. Furthermore, the study has found central challenges and opportunities linked to the integration and usage of agile methods. Prominent findings show the importance of reaching an organizational consensus and understanding when agile methods are being integrated, making a selection of what agile values and principles have the possibility to actually generate improvements and benefits, as well as applying traditional and agile methods in combination through hybrid models. The result also highlights the importance of balancing organizational stability and flexibility in order to manage paradoxical tensions and achieve organizational ambidexterity.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is that from an employee perspective examine the organizational climate of AF (Arbetsförmedlingen) södra Västmanland (Köping, Arboga, Kungsör). The results will include innovation improvement proposals, which are intended to raise employees needs in the project Förnyelseresan (translated to “A travel of change towards an innovative organizational climate”) within the area Self-leadership and culture. Hence AF södra Västmanland has got the possibility to use the improvement proposals as complementary basis to achieve their goals within the mentioned area. Research question: Which changes, from an employee perspective, may AF södra Västmanland implement with the purpose of managing Förnyelseresan’s category Self-leadership and culture in order to promote an innovative organizational climate? Limitations: The authors limit the study to investigate the pronounced and visible part of the organizational climate of AF södra Västmanland. The study's main focus is to investigate the opinions, thoughts and ideas of their employees concerning the topic and to allow them to provide their approach of the organizational environment. Method: The main focus field of the study is designed as a case study, based on a qualitative research, which includes an inductive approach and openness to interpretation. The study's empirical data is collected from semi-structured interviews with employees from AF södra Västmanland, observations from a workshop and interaction with contacts within the organization. Results and conclusions: The results of the study show that AF södra Västmanland needs to do several changes and implement corresponding improvements with the help of the employees in order to change the organizational climate aiming to respond to the targets of Förnyelseresan. The conclusion is that workload combined with lack of time does affect the organizational climate and the capacity to innovate negatively. The improvement proposals involve themes including climate, transparency and time for creativity. / Syfte: Syftet med studien är att ur ett medarbetarperspektiv undersöka organisationsklimatet på AF (Arbetsförmedlingen) södra Västmanland (Köping, Arboga, Kungsör). Studiens resultat kommer att innehålla innovationsfrämjande förbättringsförslag med avsikt att lyfta medarbetares behov inom Förnyelseresans område Självledarskap och kultur. AF södra Västmanland har därefter möjligheten att använda förbättringsförslagen som kompletterande underlag för att nå sina uppsatta mål inom det nämnda området. Forskningsfråga: Vilka förändringar ur ett medarbetarperspektiv kan AF södra Västmanland genomföra i syfte att hantera Förnyelseresans mål inom kategorin Självledarskap och kultur för att främja ett innovativt organisationsklimat? Avgränsning: Författarna avgränsar studien till den explicita och synliga delen av organisationsklimatet hos AF södra Västmanland. Studiens huvudsakliga fokus läggs vid att undersöka medarbetares åsikter, tankar och idéer om ämnet och låta dem tillskriva sin omgivning och sitt synsätt. Metod: Studien utformas som en fallstudie och utgår från en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi och ett induktivt synsätt med öppenhet för tolkning. Studiens empiriska data har samlats in från semistrukturerade och kvalitativa intervjuer med medarbetare från AF södra Västmanland. Interaktion med kontaktpersoner inom organisationen och observationer från en workshop bidrog även till det empiriska materialet. Resultat och slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att AF södra Västmanland kan genomföra ett antal förändringar och implementera motsvarande förbättringar framtagna med hjälp av medarbetarna i organisationen för att förändra organisationsklimatet och bemöta Förnyelseresans mål. Författarna drar slutsatsen att stor arbetsbelastning i kombination med tidsbrist påverkar organisationsklimatet och innovationsförmågan negativt. Framtagna förbättringsförslag berör teman som inkluderande klimat, öppenhet och tid för kreativitet.

Orientador: Prof. Dr. Anderson Orzari Ribeiro / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do ABC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia e Gestão da Inovação, 2017. / Inovações tecnológicas no setor da saúde são observadas em novos produtos, serviços e processos utilizados para diagnosticar, monitorar, prevenir e indicar o tratamento mais adequado aos pacientes. Neste setor, a vasta gama de doenças conhecidas representa um enorme desafio para a elaboração de novos diagnósticos e tratamentos, ainda mais quando se considera redução dos custos e o prolongamento da vida ativa dos cidadãos. O presente estudo, cuja amostra é uma empresa de medicina diagnóstica reconhecida por suas práticas de gestão de inovação, pretende analisar o processo de implantação de inovações da empresa e questiona como uma ferramenta de engenharia pode ser complementar a gestão de inovação, apoiando a integração necessária entre as diversas unidades de negócio envolvidas no lançamento de uma inovação. Para responder a essa pergunta, faz-se uso de uma abordagem de engenharia de sistemas, mais especificamente, a aplicação do método de engenharia de sistemas no modelo de ciclo de vida do sistema. Os resultados demonstraram que a ferramenta traz uma visão instrutiva do processo de design e desenvolvimento de um conceito inovador de serviço, produto ou processo, podendo ser complementar à gestão de inovação. Sugere-se que a metodologia aplicada possa ser projetada para outras empresas, e também ser utilizada para desenvolvimento de um software de suporte à gestão de inovação. / Innovations in healthcare are present in new products, services and processes used to diagnose, monitor, prevent and indicate the most appropriate treatment to the patients. The known diseases represent a huge challenge to elaborate new diagnosis procedures and treatments, considering especially lengthening people¿s life and cost reduction. This present study, which uses a medical diagnostic company recognized for innovation as a sample, intends to analyse the process to implement innovations the company. The question it aims to understand is if a system engineering method can be used to complement innovation management, in order to understand the steps it take until innovation launch and also to have a better integration between different businesses units involved in innovation launch processes. To answer this question, a system engineer approach is used as methodology, more specifically, the system engineering life cycle model. Results shows that the methodology provides an instructive view of innovations design and development processes, which may be complementary to innovation management. The results also suggest that the methodology can be used in other companies, and can be applied to design a software to support innovation management.

Background: The Aerospace and Defense industry requires continuous innovation and adaptation. Ambidextrous leadership, which balances exploration and exploitation, plays a crucial role in driving innovative work behavior. Understanding this relationship is important for navigating industry complexities and staying competitive in rapidly changing market conditions. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of ambidextrous leadership on aerospace and defense firms’ innovation at the individual level. It also deepens the understanding of conditions to improve innovation by examining the moderating role of collaborative climate.  Methodology: This study uses a quantitative research design, specifically structural equation modeling (SEM). Data was collected through a survey questionnaire, with eighty-one valid responses from professionals in the industry. Results and analysis: The study found that open leadership behavior was positively related to innovative work behavior. This means that leaders who show open leadership behaviors, such as being supportive and collaborative, have a greater impact on inspiring and encouraging innovative thinking and behavior among their employees. However, the study did not find a significant relationship between closed leadership behavior and innovative work behavior. This is surprising, as closed leadership behaviors, such as being directive and controlling, have been shown to be positively related to innovation in other studies. One explanation for this finding is that the aerospace and defense industry is a highly regulated industry with strict safety standards. In this context, leaders may be more focused on ensuring that existing products and processes are safe and dependable, rather than encouraging employees to take risks and experiment with innovative ideas. The study also found that collaborative climate was positively related to innovative work behavior. This means a work environment that supports collaboration and teamwork can foster innovation by encouraging employees to share ideas and work together to solve problems. However, the study did not find that a collaborative climate moderated the relationship between open leadership behavior and innovative work behavior. This suggests open leadership behavior positively impacts innovative work behavior regardless of the level of collaborative climate in the workplace. Recommendations for future research: Future research should address the limitations of this study by employing larger samples, objective measures, and exploring additional moderating variables such as organizational size and innovative climate. Longitudinal studies are needed to understand the sustained impact of open leadership behaviors and collaborative climates on innovative work behavior over time. By doing so, we can enhance our understanding of leadership's role in promoting innovation and develop practical recommendations for organizations across diverse industries and contexts.