Ambidexterity and Entrepreneurship Studies: A Literature Review and Research Agenda

Organizational ambidexterity represents how organizations do two different things equally well, such as efficiency and flexibility, adaptability and alignment, integration and responsiveness, or exploration and exploitation. Several entrepreneurial organizations have been born or rejuvenated by implementing and developing an organizational ambidexterity capacity. reviews organizational ambidexterity in entrepreneurship studies. The author examines the past 15 years of published research by focusing on the contribution of organizational ambidexterity to the fields of management studies and entrepreneurship studies and provide research directions in organizational ambidexterity. Based on this review and analysis, the author shows the underrepresentation of entrepreneurship in the published ambidexterity literature until the last decade. Motivated by this insight, the discussion examines how the concept of ambidexterity is a potential ingredient in the entrepreneurial decision-making process of individuals, teams, organizations, and eco-systems agents. New research lines are encouraged that refresh the analysis of ambidexterity in the entrepreneurship field and re-think its contribution to the reconciliation process between management, innovation, and entrepreneurship fields. Finally, there are several implications for managers, entrepreneurial organizations, and entrepreneurs that emerge from this study.