How top management team behavioral integration and behavioral complexity enable organizational ambidexterity: The moderating role of contextual ambidexterity

Abstract Little is known about how top management teams (TMTs) make balanced strategic decisions (exploration and exploitation) and spearhead organizational ambidexterity. To address the theoretical call to explore how TMTs can help create ambidexterity, we propose a theoretical model where TMT behavioral integration cultivates behavioral complexity in a TMT that can build organizational ambidexterity. Further, we argue that the relationship between TMT behavioral complexity and organizational ambidexterity is moderated by contextual ambidexterity. Drawing on research in the areas of leadership, TMT, organizational context and ambidexterity, we explore implications for future research.

[1]  Christian J. Resick,et al.  Leaders, Values, and Organizational Climate: Examining Leadership Strategies for Establishing an Organizational Climate Regarding Ethics , 2004 .

[2]  Henry Mintzberg.  The Nature of Managerial Work , 1974, Operational Research Quarterly (1970-1977).

[3]  B. Avolio,et al.  Context and leadership: An examination of the nine-factor full-range leadership theory using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. , 2003 .

[4]  D. Denison,et al.  Corporate Culture and Organizational Effectiveness. , 1991 .

[5]  Ronald Lippitt,et al.  Patterns of Aggressive Behavior in Experimentally Created “Social Climates” , 1939 .

[6]  Zeki Simsek,et al.  Modeling the Multilevel Determinants of Top Management Team Behavioral Integration , 2005 .

[7]  Cyril P. Morgan,et al.  The Role of Project Team Collaboration in R&D Performance , 1976 .

[8]  Mikael Holmqvist,et al.  Experiential Learning Processes of Exploitation and Exploration Within and Between Organisations : An Empirical Study of Product Development, Department of Business Studies , 2003 .

[9]  M. Tushman,et al.  Ambidextrous Organizations: Managing Evolutionary and Revolutionary Change , 1996 .

[10]  D. Denison,et al.  Paradox and Performance: Toward a Theory of Behavioral Complexity in Managerial Leadership , 1995 .

[11]  William E. Gifford,et al.  Message Characteristics and Perceptions of Uncertainty by Organizational Decision Makers , 1979 .

[12]  Daniel A. Levinthal,et al.  The myopia of learning , 1993 .

[13]  Joseph Soeters,et al.  Leadership effects on organizational climate and financial performance: Local leadership effect in chain organizations , 2002 .

[14]  S. Winter,et al.  Replication as Strategy , 2001 .

[15]  E. Schein.  Organizational Culture and Leadership , 1991 .

[16]  C. Gibson,et al.  THE ANTECEDENTS , CONSEQUENCES , AND MEDIATING ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL AMBIDEXTERITY , 2004 .

[17]  I. Janis.  Victims Of Groupthink , 1972 .

[18]  William H. Glick,et al.  Organizational Change and Redesign: Ideas and Insights for Improving Performance , 1995 .

[19]  Barbara S. Lawrence,et al.  Perspective---The Black Box of Organizational Demography , 1997 .

[20]  G. Yukl,et al.  Leadership in Organizations , 1981 .

[21]  Robert E. Quinn,et al.  2 – Applying the Competing Values Approach to Leadership: Toward an Integrative Framework , 1984 .

[22]  D. Zohar.  A group-level model of safety climate: testing the effect of group climate on microaccidents in manufacturing jobs. , 2000, The Journal of applied psychology.

[23]  Charles R. Schwenk,et al.  TOP MANAGEMENT TEAM STRATEGIC CONSENSUS, DEMOGRAPHIC HOMOGENEITY AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: A REPORT OF RESOUNDING NONFINDINGS , 1996 .

[24]  R R McDaniel,et al.  RN participation in organizational decision making and improvements in resident outcomes. , 1999, Health care management review.

[25]  Ken G. Smith,et al.  The interplay between exploration and exploitation. , 2006 .

[26]  Lawrence R. Jauch,et al.  Toward a contextual theory of leadership , 2002 .

[27]  Jody Hoffer Gittell,et al.  Supervisory Span, Relational Coordination and Flight Departure Performance , 2001 .

[28]  M. Tushman,et al.  Executive Succession and Organization Outcomes in Turbulent Environments: An Organization Learning Approach , 1992 .

[29]  R. R. Blake,et al.  The Managerial Grid , 1994 .

[30]  Chi-Hyon Lee,et al.  Strategic Ambidexterity and Sales Growth : A Longitudinal Test in the Software Sector , 2007 .

[31]  R. I. Sutton,et al.  Organizational behavior: linking individuals and groups to organizational contexts. , 1993, Annual review of psychology.

[32]  H. P. Sims,et al.  Top Management Team Demography and Process: The Role of Social Integration and Communication , 1994 .

[33]  B. Bass,et al.  Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire , 2011 .

[34]  Michael L. Tushman,et al.  Navigating Change: How CEO's, Top Teams and Boards Steer Transformation , 1998 .

[35]  Mark J. Zbaracki,et al.  Strategic decision making , 1992 .

[36]  Henk W. Volberda,et al.  Co-evolution of Firm Absorptive Capacity and Knowledge Environment: Organizational Forms and Combinative Capabilities , 1999 .

[37]  John Rohrbaugh,et al.  A Spatial Model of Effectiveness Criteria: Towards a Competing Values Approach to Organizational Analysis , 1983 .

[38]  Abraham Carmeli,et al.  Top Management Team Behavioral Integration and the Performance of Service Organizations , 2008 .

[39]  James D. Thompson.  Organizations in Action: Social Science Bases of Administrative Theory , 1967 .

[40]  B. E. Partridge,et al.  The Nature of Managerial Work , 1974 .

[41]  Ron Sanchez,et al.  Competence-based Strategic Management , 1996 .

[42]  Robert Hooijberg,et al.  A Multidirectional Approach Toward Leadership: An Extension of the Concept of Behavioral Complexity , 1996 .

[43]  J. March.  Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning , 1991, STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI.

[44]  J. Dutton,et al.  Advances in strategic management , 1994 .

[45]  A. Bandura.  Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory , 1985 .

[46]  Cecil A. L. Pearson,et al.  The importance of job content and social information on organizational commitment and job satisfaction: A study in australian and malaysian nursing contexts , 1999 .

[47]  E. Kelloway,et al.  Development and test of a model linking safety-specific transformational leadership and occupational safety. , 2002, The Journal of applied psychology.

[48]  G. Dowling.  Perceived risk: The concept and its measurement , 1986 .

[49]  D. Zohar.  Modifying supervisory practices to improve subunit safety: a leadership-based intervention model. , 2002, The Journal of applied psychology.

[50]  Timothy N. Carroll,et al.  The Coevolution of New Organizational Forms , 1999 .

[51]  Mason A. Carpenter,et al.  Internationalization and Firm Governance: The Roles of CEO Compensation, Top Team Composition, and Board Structure , 1998 .

[52]  Jane E. Dutton,et al.  Energize Your Workplace: How to Create and Sustain High-Quality Connections at Work , 2003 .

[53]  Aneil K. Mishra,et al.  Toward a theory of organizational culture and effectiveness. , 1995 .

[54]  Constance E. Helfat,et al.  Managerial Resources and Rents , 1991 .

[55]  Michael D Watkins,et al.  Predictable surprises: the disasters you should have seen coming. , 2003, Harvard business review.

[56]  G. Johnson.  The essential impact of context on organizational behavior , 2006 .

[57]  Deborah G. . Ancona,et al.  Time: A New Research Lens , 2001 .

[58]  Clayton M. Christensen.  The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail , 2013 .

[59]  Ken A. Smith,et al.  Making Use of Difference: Diversity, Debate, and Decision Comprehensiveness in Top Management Teams , 1999 .

[60]  Karlene H. Roberts,et al.  The nature of organizational leadership , 1967 .

[61]  David Lei,et al.  Strategic and organizational requirements for competitive advantage , 2005 .

[62]  D. Sull.  The Dynamics of Standing Still: Firestone Tire & Rubber and the Radial Revolution , 1999, Business History Review.

[63]  D. Mcgregor,et al.  The Human Side of Enterprise , 1960 .

[64]  Donald C. Hambrick,et al.  Corporate coherence and the TOP management team , 1997 .

[65]  J. Dutton,et al.  Categorizing Strategic Issues: Links to Organizational Action , 1987 .

[66]  Y. Fried,et al.  Location, location, location: contextualizing organizational research* , 2001 .

[67]  G. Graen,et al.  Relationship-based approach to leadership: Development of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a multi-level multi-domain perspective , 1995 .

[68]  Marianne W. Lewis.  Exploring Paradox: Toward a More Comprehensive Guide , 2000 .

[69]  J. March,et al.  A Behavioral Theory of the Firm , 1964 .

[70]  C. Bartlett,et al.  Linking organizational context and managerial action: The dimensions of quality of management , 2007 .

[71]  F. Guldenmund.  The nature of safety culture: a review of theory and research , 2000 .

[72]  M. Lubatkin,et al.  Ambidexterity and Performance in Small-to Medium-Sized Firms: The Pivotal Role of Top Management Team Behavioral Integration , 2006 .

[73]  Mason A. Carpenter,et al.  Top Management Teams, Global Strategic Posture, and the Moderating Role of Uncertainty , 2001 .

[74]  U. Daellenbach,et al.  Commitment to Innovation: The Impact of Top Management Team Characteristics , 1999 .

[75]  Janice A. Black,et al.  A dynamic system simulation of leader and group effects on context for learning , 2006 .

[76]  Mark S. Granovetter.  Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness , 1985, American Journal of Sociology.

[77]  Mary J. Benner,et al.  Exploitation, Exploration, and Process Management: The Productivity Dilemma Revisited , 2003 .

[78]  Bruce J. Avolio,et al.  The Charismatic Relationship: A Dramaturgical Perspective , 1998 .

[79]  M. Wiersema,et al.  Top Management Team Demography and Corporate Strategic Change , 1992 .

[80]  J. Dutton,et al.  Positive Organizational Scholarship , 2007 .

[81]  Andrew H. Van de Ven,et al.  Learning the Innovation Journey: Order out of Chaos? , 1996 .

[82]  Amy C. Edmondson,et al.  A dynamic model of top management team effectiveness: managing unstructured task streams , 2003 .

[83]  C. Barnard.  The Functions of the Executive , 1939 .

[84]  P. Ghemawat,et al.  Organizational tension between static and dynamic efficiency, The , 1993 .

[85]  Erin V. Lehman,et al.  Team Diagnostic Survey , 2005 .

[86]  David Rooney,et al.  Wisdom principles as a meta-theoretical basis for evaluating leadership , 2009 .

[87]  R. Quinn,et al.  Roles Executives Play: CEOs, Behavioral Complexity, and Firm Performance , 1993 .

[88]  P. Adler,et al.  Flexibility Versus Efficiency? a Case Study of Model Changeovers in the Toyota Production System , 1999 .

[89]  L. Bourgeois.  Performance and consensus , 1980 .

[90]  D. Hambrick,et al.  FACTIONAL GROUPS: A NEW VANTAGE ON DEMOGRAPHIC FAULTLINES, CONFLICT, AND DISINTEGRATION IN WORK TEAMS , 2005 .

[91]  Jay R. Galbraith.  Designing the Innovating Organization , 1982 .

[92]  Peter J. Lane,et al.  Strategizing Throughout the Organization: Managing Role Conflict in Strategic Renewal , 2000 .

[93]  Raghu Garud,et al.  The innovation journey , 1999 .

[94]  R. J. House,et al.  The Social Scientific Study of Leadership: Quo Vadis? , 1997 .

[95]  John G. Michel,et al.  DIVERSIFICATION POSTURE AND TOP MANAGEMENT TEAM CHARACTERISTICS , 1992 .

[96]  Craig L. Pearce,et al.  Book Review: Shared Leadership: Reframing the Hows and Whys of Leadership , 2005 .

[97]  M. Hoegl,et al.  Teamwork Quality and the Success of Innovative Projects , 2001 .

[98]  K. Cameron,et al.  Organizational paradox and transformation. , 1988 .

[99]  George E. Dodge,et al.  Leadership Complexity and Development of the leaderplex Model , 1997 .

[100]  L. Pondy,et al.  The management of organization design , 1976 .

[101]  Usha Satish,et al.  Behavioral Complexity: A Review , 1997 .

[102]  B. Uzzi,et al.  Social Structure and Competition in Interfirm Networks: The Paradox of Embeddedness , 1997 .

[103]  E. Johnsen.  Richard M. Cyert & James G. March, A Behavioral Theory of The Firm, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1963, 332 s. , 1964 .

[104]  Michael D. Mumford,et al.  Leadership and social intelligence: Linking social perspectiveness and behavioral flexibility to leader effectiveness , 1991 .

[105]  Michael L. Tushman,et al.  Winning through innovation , 1997 .

[106]  Abraham Carmeli,et al.  Top management team behavioral integration, decision quality, and organizational decline , 2006 .

[107]  Kathleen M. Eisenhardt,et al.  Making Fast Strategic Decisions In High-Velocity Environments , 1989 .

[108]  M. Tushman,et al.  The ambidextrous organization. , 2004, Harvard business review.

[109]  A. Tsui,et al.  Unpacking the relationship between CEO leadership behavior and organizational culture , 2006 .

[110]  Jay R. Galbraith.  Organizing to Deliver Solutions , 2002 .

[111]  H. P. Sims,et al.  Top management team diversity, group process, and strategic consensus , 1999 .

[112]  R. C. Bullis,et al.  The impact of leader behavioral complexity on organizational performance , 1992 .

[113]  W. H. Glick.  Leaders and managers : international perspectives on managerial behavior and leadership , 1986 .

[114]  Theresa S. Cho,et al.  The Influence of Top Management Team Heterogeneity on Firms' Competitive Moves , 1996 .

[115]  Benjamin Schneider,et al.  Understanding organization-customer links in service settings. , 2005 .

[116]  D. Hambrick,et al.  Upper Echelons: The Organization as a Reflection of Its Top Managers , 1984 .

[117]  Mary J. Benner,et al.  Process Management and Technological Innovation: A Longitudinal Study of the Photography and Paint Industries , 2002 .

[118]  Wendy K. Smith,et al.  Managing Strategic Contradictions: A Top Management Model for Managing Innovation Streams , 2005 .

[119]  T. Tyler,et al.  A Relational Model of Authority in Groups , 1992 .

[120]  Amy C. Edmondson,et al.  Psychological Safety, Trust, and Learning in Organizations: A Group-Level Lens. , 2004 .

[121]  Daniel A. Levinthal,et al.  Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning , 2007 .

[122]  Roderick M. Kramer,et al.  Trust and Distrust In Organizations: Dilemmas and Approaches , 2004 .

[123]  A. V. D. Ven,et al.  Using Paradox to Build Management and Organization Theories , 1989 .

[124]  B. Lawrence.  The Black Box of Organizational Demography , 1997 .