Building Ambidexterity into a firm: The control/autonomy dilemma revisited

Ambidexterity refers to the capacity to manage multiple and contradictory organizational architectures in order to simultaneously exploit and explore. The problem is this: how best to manage opposing objectives of exploitation versus exploration? We can extend the theory bearing on ambidextrous organizations by focusing on the dynamics of organizational design in the context of the knowledge economy and under changing environmental conditions. We stress the crucial role of managing the control/autonomy dilemma; successful management increases a firm's ability to continuously produce new knowledge and engage in rapid, uninterrupted change. Indeed, firms cannot be completely centralized, nor can they consist exclusively of autonomous units. To face the control/autonomy paradox, many authors call for ''balance.'' Building from Dumont (1966) and Dupuy (1992), we suggest that organizations should not try to achieve static balance between control and autonomy, but rather focus on shifting between the two at some irregular-oscillation rate. Instead of balance and simultaneity, we argue that the poles of the duality actually oscillate with an irregular rhythm forming what Dumont calls a ''reversible hierarchy.'' Based on a case study of a cosmetics firm, we highlight several findings offering an enrichment of the ''semistructures'' concept. Finally, we propose two stylized forms of ambidextrous organizational designs.