Can ambidexterity lead to pioneering orientation in adverse situations? A new approach about when and how

Gala-Velásquez B.D.L.; Ruiz-Ortega M.J.; García-Villaverde P.M.; Hurtado-Palomino A. · Technological Forecasting and Social Change (2024) · DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122993

Resumen

Work addressing the determining role of knowledge strategy, specifically the controversial ambidextrous knowledge strategy and its effects on strategic orientation, is scarce and has been demanded recently. Additionally, the intensity of adversity is an unexplored contingent factor that may affect a firm's strategic orientation, specifically the pioneering orientation in the context of recent adverse events as the COVID-19 pandemic or the war in Ukraine. This paper analyses the relationship between ambidextrous knowledge strategy and pioneering orientation in the face of intensity of adversity. The empirical study was conducted on a sample of 302 tourism firms in Peru. The results show that ambidextrous knowledge strategy has an inverted U-shaped relationship with pioneering orientation, although the maximum threshold is reached for very high levels of ambidexterity. Moreover, in contexts of high intensity of adversity the curvilinear relationship is accentuated, driving firms with greater ambidextrous knowledge strategy to enhance their pioneering orientation to a maximum level.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa