Blending in: A Case Study of Transitional Ambidexterity in the Financial Sector

Beniamino Callegari and Ranvir S. Rai
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Beniamino Callegari: School of Economics, Innovation, and Technology, Kristiania University College, Oslo 0107, Norway
Ranvir S. Rai: School of Economics, Innovation, and Technology, Kristiania University College, Oslo 0107, Norway

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-18

Abstract: Organizational ambidexterity is widely recognized as necessary for the economic sustainability of firms operating in the financial sector. While the management literature has recognized several forms of ambidexterity, the relationship between them and their relative merits remain unclear. By studying a process of implementation of ambidextrous capabilities within a large Scandinavian financial firm, we explore the role of top-down reforms and bottom-up reactions in determining the development of sector-specific innovative capabilities. We find that blended ambidexterity follows naturally from the attempt to correct the tensions arising from harmonic ambidextrous blueprints. The resulting blended practice appears to be closely related to the reciprocal model of ambidexterity, which appears to be a necessity rather than a choice, for large firms attempting to develop innovative capabilities. Consequently, we suggest to re-interpret current taxonomies of ambidexterity not as alternative blueprints, but rather as stages in a long-term process of transition.

Keywords: economic sustainability; organizational ambidexterity; blended ambidexterity; innovation process (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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