Antecedents and outcomes of organizational ambidexterity: The moderating role of uncertainty environment

Abstract

In today's highly competitive global environment, businesses are faced with many challenges in improving operational efficiency, while continuously innovating to improve productivity and maintain competitiveness. Digital technology increasingly plays an important role in the operations of businesses to address these challenges. To enhance the effectiveness of digital technologies in businesses, organizational ambidexterity (OA) – the ability to balance between exploitation and exploratoration – has become one of the top strategies prioritized by organizations. This dissertation provides a comprehensive understanding of the concept of OA in the digital transformation of businesses in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Based on the main theoretical framework of OA, combined with the RBV theory, this study examines the impact mechanism between the antecedents – OA – sustained competitive advantage (SCA), and at the same time examine the mediating and moderating roles in this impact mechanism. Based on a valid sample of 436 businesses in many various fields in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, through the quantitative analysis process and hypothesis testing from the PLS-SEM method, the results have affirmed the important role of OA in the impact mechanism between the antecedents – OA – SCA, and the role of mediating and moderating variables in this mechanism. There are three main findings of this study as follows: First, in the context of digital transformation in businesses, OA is a crucial factor for organizations to achieve SCA. The results also show that both structural and contextual organization antecedents simultaneously promote to achieve OA. Second, Industry 4.0 readiness (I4.0R) plays a crucial role for organizations in the context of digital transformation. The results show that I4.0R is both an antecedent for promoting OA and a driver for SCA, and also plays a partial mediating role in promoting the structural antecedent to achieve OA. Third, the study also confirms the moderating role of uncertainty environment and participative leadership in achieving OA. Both factors play a positive moderating role in the impact of organizational context antecedent on OA. However, the moderating role of these two factors in the relationship between structural antecedents and OA remains unclear. Based on these research results, the dissertation provides discussions, theoretical contributions, and managerial implications from the research findings.