Unveiling the Secrets of Fusion Ambidexterity PART 1: Reciprocal Ambidextrous Knowledge Development
In the ever-evolving world of business, organizational ambidexterity has emerged as a critical concept for achieving sustainable success. The common organizational ambidexterity approach emphasizes the simultaneous pursuit of exploitation (leveraging existing resources) and exploration (seeking new opportunities) as complementary activities. In this series of 5 blog posts, we will delve into an integrative framework: ‘The Fusion Ambidexterity’, which is modernizing the organizational ambidexterity concept into a multi-dimensional dynamic model.
We begin by recognizing that exploitation and exploration are not separate opposing forces but rather complementary activities that create an active duality and continue highlighting their vital role in enhancing organizational performance and establishing long-term sustainability.
The Role of Duality in Ambidexterity
At the heart of Fusion Ambidexterity lies the concept that exploitation and exploration are not opposing forces but rather complementary activities that create a dynamic duality, being two sides of the same coin. Duality, as a strategy for managing paradoxes, sheds light on this interconnectedness and underscores the idea that these activities are interrelated and opposing yet reciprocal elements. This perspective emphasizes that exploitation and exploration should be studied as a unified concept with a twofold underlying nature. To determine whether they are primarily exploitation or exploration depends on the degree to which these activities relate to innovation, with many instances falling along a continuum, rather than being isolated.
Reciprocal Ambidextrous Knowledge Development
As a duality, both exploitation and exploration can develop the firm knowledge base. Exploitation involves refining the active knowledge base by utilizing and maximizing its existing skills and capabilities, while exploration entails transforming its knowledge base by embracing fresh perspectives, new skills, and capabilities. Importantly, they are highly interconnected, working in tandem to enrich the organization's knowledge base. To expand their knowledge base, organizations must actively engage with external parties. Seeking cooperation with external partners and alliances is crucial for integrating external knowledge into the operations. This external knowledge can often contribute significantly to the organization's active knowledge base and even facilitate radical innovation. Therefore, managing the delicate balance between exploitation and exploration with external knowledge streams requires not only active knowledge brokerage but also the presence of firm-wide knowledge integration enablers, such as absorptive capacity and well-defined knowledge processes.
The Knowledge-Performance Nexus
There is a symbiotic relationship between exploitation and exploration, where one activity often depends on the other for optimal performance. For instance, gaining performance in exploitation may require some form of exploration, and vice versa. Therefore, to fully benefit from the integration of these activities, organizations must effectively incorporate both their internal and external knowledge bases. To successfully navigate this intricate interplay between the knowledge bases, organizational learning plays a pivotal role. It acts as the bridge that connects these activities, facilitating a seamless exchange of knowledge and insights. The imperative will be that this learning process is guided by the organization's strategic approach.
This strategic approach ensures that value is created and that the organization is intelligently ambidextrous, effectively managing not only the duality of exploitation and exploration activities but also making sure it creates the right value. Together with organizational learning, the strategic intelligence factor becomes significant, as integral to adopting Fusion Ambidexterity is the notion that intellectual assets are foundational in modern firms. Thus, it becomes imperative that the active knowledge base must continually evolve through both exploitation and exploration activities, blurring the boundaries between them. In fact, moving towards Fusion Ambidexterity hinges on the ability of organizations to integrate both internal and external knowledge streams. This integration not only expands through exploitation and exploration with external partners but also reinforces the reciprocal relationship between the two.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the pursuit of exploitation and exploration with external parties serves to expand the active knowledge base of organizations. Unlike previous models, which primarily focused on using external partners for specific activities, our framework highlights the duality view. This view suggests that teams engaged in exploitation can also explore to enhance their exploitation efforts, and vice versa. Ultimately, exploitation and exploration are two integral and reciprocal elements that form the organizational knowledge base. In the next blog, we will explore how these knowledge streams contribute to the tensions inherent in ambidextrous activities, providing further insights into the intricacies of Fusion Ambidexterity.
Thank you for reading. Let me hear your thoughts.
Mari Stenberg
REVOLUTIONIZE IMPACT
Follow us at LinkedIn Page Revolutionize Impact
Sources:
Farjoun, M. 2010. Beyond dualism: Stability and change as a duality. Academy of management review, 35, 2, pp. 202–225.
Kauppila, O. 2010. Creating ambidexterity by integrating and balancing structurally separate interorganizational partnerships. Strategic organization, 8, 4, pp. 283–312.
Lavie, D., Stettner, U. & Tushman, M. 2010. Exploration and exploitation within and across organizations. Academy of Management annals, 4, 1, pp. 109–155.
Raisch, S., Birkinshaw, J., Probst, G & Tushman, M. 2009. Organizational ambidexterity: Balancing exploitation and exploration for sustained performance. Organization science, 20, 4, pp. 685–695.
Stenberg, M. (2021). An Integrated Literature Review of Organizational Ambidexterity: The Rise of Fusion Ambidexterity.
