Unpacking the impact of innovation ambidexterity on export performance: Microfoundations and infrastructure investment

Yan, J.; Tsinopoulos, C.; Xiong, Y.

Abstract

When designing and managing routines for their innovation activities firms often face a challenge. Either they can concentrate their efforts on one approach i.e. exploring new ideas or exploiting its existing capabilities, or they can try to do both, i.e. becoming ambidextrous. In this paper, we aim to explore first the effect of exploration, exploitation and ambidexterity on export performance and second the moderating role of investment in infrastructure. Using firm-level data from the UK’s innovation survey (CIS) we find that both exploration and exploitation improve export performance. We also find that investment in infrastructure weakens this relationship. Counterintuitively, we find that ambidexterity has a negative effect on export performance, and that it is negatively moderated by investment in infrastructure. We use microfoundations arguments (the routines firms employ and the actions taken by individuals and groups within them to shape their exporting capabilities) to explain how efforts to achieve ambidexterity can improve export performance

Citation

Yan, J., Tsinopoulos, C., & Xiong, Y. (2021). Unpacking the impact of innovation ambidexterity on export performance: Microfoundations and infrastructure investment. International Business Review, 30(1), Article 101766. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2020.101766

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 14, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Oct 22, 2020
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Oct 23, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 22, 2022
• Journal: International Business Review
• Print ISSN: 0969-5931
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 30
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 101766
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2020.101766
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1258787