Strategic Management Seminar

Research on organizational ambidexterity has introduced various approaches
for organizations to combine exploratory and exploitative activities. Yet,
these approaches are often not feasible for small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs). This study attempts to develop our understanding of how
SMEs can achieve ambidexterity by advancing a resource management
perspective. We introduce entrepreneurial bricolage as a means through
which SMEs can overcome their resource limitations in a pro-active way and
simultaneously pursue exploratory and exploitative activities. We use a
cross-industry sample of SMEs and find that bricolage contributes to the
attainment of ambidexterity. Additionally, we show that networking ability
and cognitive diversity enable TMTs to engage in bricolage. Overall, we
provide novel insights into how SMEs may reduce the resource allocation
challenges associated with the pursuit of ambidexterity.