Multilevel integration of exploration units : beyond the ambidextrous organization
Résumé
Ambidextrous organizations balance exploration and exploitation but we know little about how it works at a fined-grained level. Following an in-depth case study approach, we outlined the tensions between the entity in charge of radical innovations and those in charge of the established products and focused on the integration mechanisms through which the firm outcomes these tensions. We suggest that integration takes place on a multilevel basis. We identified four types of integration mechanisms: permanent cross-divisional working groups, ad hoc cross-divisional committee meetings at a high hierarchical level, ambidextrous individuals and exploration of transversal subjects by a high status actor.