Ambidexterity as Historically Embedded Process: Evidence From NASA, 1958 to 2016. (June 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Heracleous, Loizos; Yniguez, Carlos; Gonzalez, Steven A.
• Is Part Of: Journal of applied behavioral science. Volume 55:Number 2(2019:Jun.)
• Page Start: 161
• Page End: 189
• Publication Date: 2019-06
• Subjects: organizational ambidexterity -- historical embeddedness -- organizational context; Social sciences -- Periodicals; 300.5
• DOI: 10.1177/0021886318812122
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-8863

Abstract

Even though the growing ambidexterity literature has delivered useful insights, this theme has been researched largely in static and a-contextual terms, without adequate attention to how an organization's history and context can shape its present. In this article, we employ NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) as an in-depth case study to trace how its historical trajectory has shaped its current propensity to be ambidextrous. Our study reveals organizational ambidexterity as a path-dependent, contingent process rather than something necessarily achievable via the more generic prescriptions of structural, temporal, or contextual ambidexterity models.