Micro-foundations of Organizational Ambidexterity in the Context of Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions
: Hughes Paul, Hughes Matthew, Stokes Peter, Lee Hanna, Rodgers Peter, Degbey William Y.
Publisher: Elsevier
: 2020
: Technological Forecasting and Social Change
: 119932
: 153
: 1873-5509
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.119932
: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.119932
: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/45504925
Micro-foundational approaches can enable firms to develop organizational
ambidexterity, which is critical to long-term prosperity. However, to date, few
studies have examined how mergers and acquisitions (M&A)—processes reliant
on knowledge transfer—provide a useful organizational context through which to
understand the achievement of organizational ambidexterity. Considering
organizational ambidexterity from the viewpoint of exploitative and explorative
innovation, we examine how behavioral contexts (corporate entrepreneurship)
and structure (integration) regulate knowledge transfer activities at the
micro-foundational and firm levels within a cross-border M&A context.
Analysis of 143 cross-border M&As
completed by United Kingdom (UK) acquiring firms revealed that: (1)
knowledge sharing between the acquirer and the acquired leads to organizational
ambidexterity; (2) increased use of the acquired target’s capabilities has a
negative effect on organizational ambidexterity; (3) overall, capability
sharing is positively related to organizational ambidexterity; (4) corporate
entrepreneurship has both negative and positive moderating effects (on use of the
acquired target’s capabilities and capability sharing, respectively), while
integration positively moderates the effects of knowledge sharing on
organizational ambidexterity.
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