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CONTINUOUS INNOVATION IN ENTREPRENEURIAL GROWTH COMPANIES: EXPLORING THE AMBIDEXTROUS STRATEGY

TOBIAS KOLLMANN

Department of Economics and Business Administration, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, D-45141 Essen, Germany

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ANDREAS KUCKERTZ

Department of Economics and Business Administration, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, D-45141 Essen, Germany

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, and

CHRISTOPH STÖCKMANN

Department of Economics and Business Administration, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, D-45141 Essen, Germany

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https://doi.org/10.1142/S0218495809000370Cited by:15 (Source: Crossref)

Abstract

This paper applies ambidextrous management to entrepreneurial growth companies. Ambidexterity aims at overcoming organizational inertia that threatens organizational survival. The concept is typically applied to established corporations in order to cure existing inertia. However, ambidextrous management may also help to avoid the emergence of inertia in entrepreneurial growth companies. We therefore discuss ambidexterity against the background of entrepreneurial growth companies and reveal how it can be used to build sustainable organizations. Our reasoning is based on organization science and entrepreneurship theory; in doing so we derive two groups of theoretical propositions explaining the antecedents of emergence and the antecedents of success of ambidextrous management in entrepreneurial growth companies.

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