Dynamic strategy : investigating the ambidexterity-performance relationship

Abstract

Faced with turbulent and continuously changing environments, organisations have to implement strategies that will allow them to become dynamic and remain competitive over the long-term. Ambidexterity, employed as a dynamic strategy, will enable organisations to simultaneously exploit and explore to serve the needs of their current market(s) through improvement and refinement while preparing for the future through innovation and novelty. This study aimed to identify whether organisations in an emerging economy such as South Africa are able to simultaneously exploit and explore and what the relationship is between ambidexterity and sustainable performance. The findings of the type of relationship and nature of ambidexterity is important due to the turbulent nature of the industries and the basis for survival and even optimal performance an ambidextrous strategy can offer organisations. Furthermore, this study investigated the role environmental turbulence, fuelled by intense competition, played in the relationship between ambidextrous strategies and sustainable organisational performance. This study contributes to the very limited body of knowledge investigating dynamic capabilities, such as ambidexterity, in an emerging economic context. Moreover, this study contributes to the literature investigating the ambidexterity and sustainable performance relationship in terms of whether organisations can simultaneously explore and exploit and what type of relationship exists between ambidexterity and sustainable performance. Management could also benefit from this study in that it will provide them with strategic insight when competing in turbulent environments. South Africa as an emerging economy provides the ideal hub for determining the value of ambidextrous strategies on sustainable organisational performance due to the changing nature of its industries. This study made use of the quantitative research approach, employing self-administered and telephonic surveys to gather data and made use of various analytical techniques to analyse the data. Participants were provided with questions prompting them to answer in line with their perceptions of their organisation in their relevant industry. The cross-sectional primary data was obtained from the sample using the convenience sampling method due to time and resource constraints. It was found that moderate to strong relationships exist between the two sub-dimensions of ambidexterity and sustainable performance, as well as competitive intensity and environmental turbulence. The findings depict a strong relationship between exploration and exploitation as the sub-dimensional constructs of ambidexterity, which reinforces the literature around simultaneous exploration and exploitation. There was no statistically significant information indicating that environmental turbulence moderates the ambidexterity and sustainable performance relationship. However, considering the strong positive relationship between the two sub-dimensions of ambidexterity and sustainable organisational performance, it is advisable for management of South African organisations to focus on ambidextrous strategies for sustaining performance in turbulent environments.