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How a Flexible Matrix Structure Could Create Ambidexterity at the Macro Level of Large, Complex Organizations Like MNCs
Management International Review ( IF 4.492 ) Pub Date : 2020-06-23 , DOI: 10.1007/s11575-020-00418-7
William G. Egelhoff

It is difficult to make large, complex organizations like MNCs ambidextrous—to make them efficient so that they succeed in the short run and in sync with their changing environments so that they succeed and survive in the long run. The two types of learning activity that support ambidexterity, exploitation and exploration, are fundamentally different (March 1991). The well-known structural approach to creating organizational ambidexterity employs separate subunits for exploitation and exploration (O’Reilly and Tushman 2011). We argue that this approach cannot take full advantage of the high levels of product, geographic, and functional diversity that exist in large, complex firms to create ambidexterity at a more macro level. Firms facing this kind of complexity often address it by using a matrix structure. For such firms, we argue that a more flexible form of matrix structure can facilitate the creation of a new form of ambidexterity at the macro level of such firms. As developed in Egelhoff and Wolf (Egelhoff and Wolf 2017), a flexible matrix structure is one which can vary its mode of decision making between balanced decision making, where decisions are jointly made by both dimensions of a matrix, and rule-based decision making, where it is pre-specified which dimension of a matrix will unilaterally make certain types of decision. We argue that rule-based decision making tends to facilitate exploitation and the refinement of existing knowledge while balanced decision making tends to facilitate exploration and the development of new knowledge. By specifying one mode of decision making or the other, firm-level management can deliberately steer important strategic decisions (e.g., new product technology development) into either exploitation or exploration and strategy renewal, creating a new form of ambidexterity at the macro level.

中文翻译:

灵活的矩阵结构如何在大型,复杂的组织(如MNC)的宏观水平上创造双足性

很难使大型复杂的组织(如跨国公司)变得灵活—使它们高效,使其在短期内成功,并与不断变化的环境保持同步,从而在长期内成功并生存。支持歧义性,开发和探索的两种学习活动本质上是不同的(1991年3月)。建立组织灵活性的众所周知的结构方法采用单独的子单元进行开发和探索(O'Reilly and Tushman 2011)。我们认为,这种方法不能充分利用大型,复杂公司中存在的高水平产品,地理和功能多样性来在更宏观的水平上产生歧义。面对这种复杂性的公司通常使用矩阵结构来解决它。对于这样的公司 我们认为,矩阵结构的一种更灵活的形式可以促进在此类公司的宏观层面上创建一种新的歧义形式。正如在Egelhoff和Wolf(Egelhoff and Wolf 2017)中开发的那样,一种灵活的矩阵结构可以在平衡的决策(其中决策由矩阵的两个维度共同做出)和基于规则的决策之间改变其决策方式,其中预先指定了矩阵的哪个维度将单方面做出某些类型的决策。我们认为,基于规则的决策倾向于促进现有知识的开发和完善,而平衡决策则倾向于促进新知识的探索和发展。通过指定一种决策方式或另一种决策方式,
更新日期:2020-06-23
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