Guest Editors’ Introduction: The Role of Human Resources and Organizational Factors in Ambidexterity

• Date: 01 December 2015
• Author: Yipeng Liu,Paulina Junni,Cary L. Cooper,Riikka M. Sarala,Shlomo Y. Tarba
• Published date: 01 December 2015
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21772

Human Resource Management, December 2015, Vol. 54, No. S1. Pp. S1–S28

© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).

DOI:10.1002/hrm.21772

Correspondence to: Shlomo Y. Tarba, Birmingham Business School, The University of Birmingham, University House,

Edgbaston Park Road, Birmingham B15 2TY, UK, Ph:+44 (0) 121 414 6011, E-mail: s.tarba@bham.ac.uk.

GUEST EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION:

THE ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCES

AND ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS

IN AMBIDEXTERITY

PAULINA JUNNI, RIIKKA M. SARALA, SHLOMO

Y.TARBA, YIPENG LIU, AND CARY L. COOPER

Ambidexterity is a growing fi eld of management research. However, the role

of human resources (HR) and organizational factors needs further exploration

because of the fragmented nature of prior work and the subsequent lack of a uni-

fying framework. Our review of 41 empirical studies identifi es distinct research

streams that relate to the effects of employee characteristics, leader characteris-

tics, organizational structure, culture, social relationships, and organizational envi-

ronment on ambidexterity. We discuss the most important fi ndings within each

stream, which contributes to the HR and ambidexterity literature by addressing

the current state of our knowledge. To move forward research in this area, we iden-

tify important, yet underexplored areas in each stream. This contributes to the lit-

erature by highlighting specifi c gaps in our current knowledge that represent new

avenues for future research. We also identify important interrelationships between

different streams that need further clarifi cation. We summarize our fi ndings into an

integrative model that elucidates the role of HR and organizational factors in ambi-

dexterity. This contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of ambidex-

terity from the HR and organizational perspectives. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Keywords: organizational ambidexterity, exploration, exploitation, human

resources, HR, culture, organizational structure, social relationships

Ambidexterity, referring to the ability

of an organization to simultaneously

exploit its existing capabilities and

explore completely new ones (March,

1991), has emerged as an important

topic in the management research (Junni, Sarala,

Taras, & Tarba, 2013). While the growing body

of literature on this topic has drawn on diverse

theoretical perspectives, an important stream

has emerged that focuses on the role of human

resources (HR) and organizational factors in the

development of ambidexterity (Ahammad, Lee,

Malul, & Shoham, 2015; Gibson & Birkinshaw,

2004; Meglio, King, & Risberg, 2015; Patel,

Messersmith, & Lepak, 2013). However, this

stream of research tends to be fragmented, which

has resulted in the lack of a unifying framework.

Therefore, the aim of this paper is to review the

S2 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, DECEMBER 2015

Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm

prior empirical literature that has examined the

role of HR and organizational factors in ambidex-

terity.1 We uncover the under-examined levels

of analysis, identify major variables and research

gaps within each stream of ambidexterity ante-

cedents, and discuss important interconnections

between the different streams. This allows us to

establish both the state of our current knowledge

important opportunities for further research. Our

theoretical framework facilitates the integration

of fragmented prior knowledge into a multilevel

and multidisciplinary understanding of the HR

and organizational antecedents of ambidexterity.

We began by searching the literature for stud-

ies that focused on ambidexterity. We selected the

research area “business economics” in the Web of

Science database and used the search term ambi-

dexterity. Then, we manually reviewed the search

results to identify empirical ambidexterity studies

that focused on HR and/or organizational factors.

We defined HR factors broadly as those focusing

on employee characteristics, leader characteristics,

and HR practices/systems. We defined organiza-

tional factors as those relating to organizational

structure, culture, social relationships, and orga-

nizational environment. In quantitative studies,

for a study to be included, we required that ambi-

dexterity was included as a distinct variable that

combined elements of exploration and exploita-

tion or other two paradoxical elements that were

explicitly referred to as ambidexterity. In qualita-

tive studies, for a study to be included, we required

an explicit discussion of ambidexterity. We also

examined the reference lists of the identified stud-

ies to find any additional, relevant articles.

The final collection of papers included in

this review contained 41 studies. To examine the

overall research interest in the HR and organiza-

tional aspects of ambidexterity in recent years, we

mapped the number of studies per year. Figure1

shows an increasing trend from 2005 to 2009

and a sustained interest in the topic from 2010

to 2014, apart from a dip in 2013. Overall, this is

in line with the general growth of the ambidex-

terity research in recent years. Figure 2 illustrates

the distribution of studies based on the study

method (quantitative/qualitative) and the level of

analysis. Both quantitative and qualitative studies

were well represented, although we found more

quantitative studies (26 were quantitative and 15

qualitative). As Figure 2 depicts, most studies were

at the more aggregate levels (21 at the firm level

and 11 at the business unit level), which points

to the tendency of examining ambidexterity as a

firm or business unit phenomenon. We found sig-

nificantly fewer studies at the individual (4 stud-

ies) and project/team levels (4 studies). Also, the

interorganizational level remains underexplored

(2 studies). This implies that to truly uncover

ambidexterity as a multilevel phenomenon, we

need further research into the microfoundations

of ambidexterity at the individual and project/

team levels. In addition, we need further research

into how ambidexterity could be achieved across

traditional organizational boundaries in interor-

ganizational contexts.

The next step consisted of classifying the stud-

ies into different streams based on the effects that

were examined. Based on our definition of HR,

we distinguished the following streams: employee

characteristics, leader characteristics, and HR prac-

tices/systems. Based on our definition of orga-

nizational factors, we identified the following

streams: organizational structure, culture, social

relationships, and organizational environment.

The number of studies examining each stream

is presented in Figure 3,2 which shows that the

most researched streams related to leader charac-

teristics, social relationships, organizational envi-

ronment, and organizational structure, while HR

practices/systems, culture, and employee charac-

teristics have received significantly less attention.

This implies that it is particularly the HR aspects

FIGURE 1. Number of Studies in the Sample per Year

1

2

0

3

77

5

9

1

6

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

FIGURE 2. Number of Studies in the Sample per

Research Method and per Level of Analysis

2

910

23

0

11

1

21

0

5

10

15

20

25

Inter-

organizational

Firm

Business unit

Team/project

Individual

Qualitative Quantitative