Start Date
10-12-2017 12:00 AM
Description
In the digital age, many firms find the pace of change in their industry is increasing. New competitors emerge from previously unrelated industries and innovative digital business models can quickly disrupt well-established market dynamics. Such jolts in the competitive landscape require existing players to be continually innovating while also “keeping the lights on” to maintain existing revenue streams. This paper reviews the IS literature on ambidexterity – the ability to simultaneously pursue strategies of resource exploration and exploitation – and advances a theoretical model for embedding innovative business models into existing organizational routines. It contributes to the literature by reconciling the structural and contextual views of ambidexterity through introducing a dynamic ambidexterity framework. This approach proposes ambidexterity as a dynamic capability which requires differing mechanisms in the initiation and implementation phases of innovation.
Recommended Citation
Dixon, Jeffrey Alexander; Brohman, Kathryn; and Chan, Yolande E., "Dynamic Ambidexterity: Exploiting Exploration for Business Success in the Digital Age" (2017). ICIS 2017 Proceedings. 7.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2017/Strategy/Presentations/7
Dynamic Ambidexterity: Exploiting Exploration for Business Success in the Digital Age
In the digital age, many firms find the pace of change in their industry is increasing. New competitors emerge from previously unrelated industries and innovative digital business models can quickly disrupt well-established market dynamics. Such jolts in the competitive landscape require existing players to be continually innovating while also “keeping the lights on” to maintain existing revenue streams. This paper reviews the IS literature on ambidexterity – the ability to simultaneously pursue strategies of resource exploration and exploitation – and advances a theoretical model for embedding innovative business models into existing organizational routines. It contributes to the literature by reconciling the structural and contextual views of ambidexterity through introducing a dynamic ambidexterity framework. This approach proposes ambidexterity as a dynamic capability which requires differing mechanisms in the initiation and implementation phases of innovation.