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  • 2017
  • Chapter
  • Advancing Organizational Theory in a Complex World

Getting Started with Ambidexterity

By: Andrew Binns and Michael Tushman
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Abstract

This paper demonstrates the value of thinking about ambidexterity as having three distinct moments—ideation, incubation, and scaling—that share common features for success, such as the role of the senior team, and that also have distinct disciplines. Incubation is a frequent point of breakdown for firms that seek to build new businesses inside existing corporations; promising ideas often simply do not progress. There are many useful lessons to learn from the start-up movement about how best to organize and execute new ventures as “business experiments.” These lessons from the “start-up garage” enable established corporations to make progress on new ventures in a disciplined, fact-based way, while also moving at speed. We have identified eight key success factors for managing business experiments at the “incubation moment,” which appear to improve the prospects of success.

Keywords

Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention

Citation

Binns, Andrew, and Michael Tushman. "Getting Started with Ambidexterity." Chap. 4 in Advancing Organizational Theory in a Complex World, edited by Jane Qiu, Ben Nanfeng Luo, Chris Jackson, and Karin Sanders, 60–73. Routledge Studies in Management, Organizations and Society. London, UK: Routledge, 2017.
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About The Author

Michael L. Tushman

Organizational Behavior
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More from the Authors
  • Reimagining Enel: Enabling Sustainable Progress By: Michael L. Tushman and Kerry Herman
  • Corporate Explorer: How Corporations Beat Startups at the Innovation Game By: Andrew Binns, Charles A. O'Reilly III and Michael Tushman
  • Leading Disruption in a Legacy Business: A Compelling Growth Ambition Is a Critical Enabler for New Ventures By: Andy Binns, Michael Tushman and Charles O'Reilly
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