A PRACTICE-LENS ON TEAM AMBIDEXTERITY OVER TIME

With a practice-based perspective, we propose that some key practices may help team members to resolve paradoxical challenges to combine exploratory and exploitative efforts. Based on case studies of the introduction on new... [ view full abstract ]

With a practice-based perspective, we propose that some key practices may help team members to resolve paradoxical challenges to combine exploratory and exploitative efforts. Based on case studies of the introduction on new sales, marketing and supply models in healthcare companies, we not only reveal how ambidexterity contributes to cross-functional team performance but also show that ambidexterity is not sufficient per se since it must be phased over time. Cross-functional teams perform best through exploring during the early and the later phases of an initiative, and through exploiting in the core phase.This paper offers a model of practices, at the team level, articulating exploration and exploitation over time to meet performance. Our analysis adds new insights to on-going discussions about team ambidexterity and contributes to the literature on ambidexterity and practice-based approach.