University of Leicester
Browse

Individual Ambidexterity, Relational Context and Academic Entrepreneurship Performance: Too Much of a Good Thing?

Version 2 2023-12-05, 16:24
Version 1 2023-05-16, 11:36
journal contribution
posted on 2023-12-05, 16:24 authored by Yi-Ying Chang, Gary Chapman, Paul Hughes, Che-Yuan Chang

Scholars have called for a better understanding of the performance consequences of individual ambidexterity. In this work, we utilize the context of academic entrepreneurship to study how and why individual ambidexterity impacts academic entrepreneurship performance, and whether relational context moderates this link. Alongside the benefits, we argue that higher levels of individual ambidexterity generate switching, coordination and cognitive costs that can harm performance. Acknowledging the simultaneous presence of varying costs and benefits over the range of individual ambidexterity, we propose that individual ambidexterity has an inverted U-shaped relationship with academic entrepreneurship performance, in which moderate levels produce superior performance. We further argue that relational context enhances the performance benefits of individual ambidexterity through providing access to novel knowledge and resources. In doing so, it shifts the turning point so that a higher level of individual ambidexterity produces peak academic entrepreneurship performance before the relationship turns. Utilizing data on Taiwanese scientists, we find strong evidence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between individual ambidexterity and academic entrepreneurship performance, and for the moderating role of relational context.

Funding

Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan. Grant Number: MOST 105-2410-H-011-020-SSS

National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), Taiwan

History

Author affiliation

School of Business, University of Leicester

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Published in

British Journal of Management

Publisher

Wiley

issn

1467-8551

Copyright date

2023

Available date

2025-05-17

Language

en

Usage metrics

    University of Leicester Publications

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC