Abstract
In this paper, we want to show with a quantitative survey how social networks of R&D project managers and R&D middle managers who are responsible for several projects help organizations to facilitate ambidexterity. Ambidexterity is the ability to explore and exploit simultaneously and is a big challenge for organizations. This is partly because organizations typically separate the divergent processes of exploitation and exploration among individuals, teams, and/or structural units within and across organizations. However, ambidexterity requires the reintegration of exploration and exploitation. Besides the top management team’s role (TMT), middle and project management play a crucial role in integrating exploitation and exploration activities. It is the project and middle managers who are making the decisions about, for example, trade-offs among competing objectives.
Although it remains unclear how and to what extent individuals can contribute simultaneously to exploitation and exploration activities, the social networking perspective does provide a valuable explanation. Rogan and Mors (2014) show in their study, how various types of networks help top managers to contribute to exploitation or exploration activities. Our study transfers the findings of Rogan and Mors (2014) to project and middle management and specifies them for this group. Based on the results of Rogan and Mors (2014) and interviews with project and middle managers in a preliminary study, several questions arise. (1) We want to know whether and how networks of R&D project and middle managers influence ambidextrous behaviour. (2) Do project and middle managers get different benefits from network contacts, which in turn have an effect on ambidextrous behaviour? To analyse these questions, we conducted a quantitative survey on social networks and ambidextrous behaviour among 153 R&D project and middle managers. First results from a linear regression model and a structural equation modelling show significant correlations between social networks of project and middle managers and ambidextrous behaviour. The full analysis and results are (in case of acceptance of this paper) to be presented at the BAM conference.