Ambidextrous Strategy and Firm Performance: The Moderating Effects of Organizational Slack and Organizational Life Cycle

Abstract

The relationship between ambidexterity and firm performance holds a prominent place in the literature. However, studies that examine the conditions under which ambidexterity leads to success are relatively scarce. Based on a sample of 226 firms in China, this study examines the moderating effects of organizational slack and organizational life cycle on the relationship between balance dimension of ambidexterity and combined dimension of ambidexterity and firm performance. The empirical results reveal that pursuing a high level of combined dimension of organizational ambidexterity is only beneficial to firms with a high level of organizational slack or firms in maturity stage, while pursuing a high level of balance dimension of organizational ambidexterity is only beneficial to firms in growth stage, but not to firms in maturity stage.