TY  - JOUR
U1  - Zeitschriftenartikel, wissenschaftlich - begutachtet (reviewed)
A1  - Stei, Gerald
A1  - Rossmann, Alexander
A1  - Szàsz, Levente
T1  - Leveraging organizational knowledge to develop agility and improve performance: the role of ambidexterity
JF  - International journal of operations & production management
N2  - Purpose
As a response to the increased frequency of disruptive events and intense competition, organizational agility has become a key concept in organizational research. Fostering organizational agility requires leveraging knowledge that exists both outside (exploration) and inside (exploitation) the organization. This research tests the so-called ambidexterity hypothesis, which claims that a balance between exploration and exploitation leads to increased organizational outcomes, including the development of organizational agility. Complementing previously established measurement models on ambidexterity, this research proposes an alternative measurement model to analyze how ambidexterity can enhance organizational agility and, indirectly, performance, taking into consideration the moderating effect of environmental competitiveness.

Design/methodology/approach
A review of existing measurement models for ambidexterity shows that tension, a crucial aspect of ambidexterity, is often neglected. The authors, therefore, develop a new measurement model of ambidexterity to incorporate ambidexterity-induced tension. Using this measurement model, they examine the effect of ambidexterity on the development of entrepreneurial and adaptive agility as well as performance.

Findings
Ambidexterity positively influences both entrepreneurial and adaptive agility, indicating that a balance between exploration and exploitation has superior organizational effects. This finding confirms the ambidexterity hypothesis with respect to organizational agility. Furthermore, both entrepreneurial and adaptive agility drive organizational performance. These two indirect effects via agility fully mediate the impact of ambidexterity on organizational performance. Finally, environmental competitiveness positively moderates the relationship between ambidexterity and adaptive agility.

Originality/value
The findings extend research on ambidexterity by showing its positive effects on organizational agility. Furthermore, the study proposes an alternative operationalization to capture the ambidexterity construct that may lay the groundwork for further applications of the ambidexterity concept.
KW  - agility
KW  - ambidexterity
KW  - exploitation
KW  - exploration
KW  - measurement
KW  - performance
Y1  - 2024
SN  - 0144-3577
SS  - 0144-3577
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-04-2023-0274
DO  - https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-04-2023-0274
IS  - Ahead-of-print
SP  - 21
S1  - 21
PB  - Emerald
CY  - Bingley
ER  -