ACHIEVING SUPERIOR INTERNATIONALIZATION THROUGH STRATEGIC AMBIDEXTERITY

Mary Han
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Mary Han: Ryerson University, School of Business Management, Canada

Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), 2007, vol. 15, issue 01, 43-77

Abstract: In this paper, I examine the optimal approach to internationalization. Drawing from the ambidexterity literature, I build on the concept of structural ambidexterity and suggest that the optimal approach occurs when firms pursue 'strategic ambidexterity,' which is characterized by simultaneously executing paradoxical strategies of pro-profit and pro-growth. I examine this approach through empirical study based on in-depth field research of two cases: Merrill Lynch, a multinational enterprise and Comdirect Bank, an international new venture. I find that a) firms that pursue strategic ambidexterity in their internationalization effort achieve above-average internationalization performance in the short term; and b) firms that pursue strategic ambidexterity in their internationalization effort also achieve above-average firm-level performance in the long term. I conclude that strategic ambidexterity is the optimal strategy by which to achieve superior performance.

Date: 2007
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DOI: 10.1142/S0218495807000046

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