Extant literature remains inconclusive with regard to optimal structural designs for sustaining effective knowledge flows, boosting innovativeness, and achieving superior performance in organizations. We contribute to the ongoing debate on formal, informal, and ambidextrous configurations in the specific context of small high-tech innovators. Adopting an inductive approach to theory building, we explore the factors that account for the variation in knowledge-focused designs across sample firms. In our study, innovative ventures rely on pure formal and informal organizational designs but also attempt to mix both, suggesting that gains from ambidexterity are not ubiquitous. Our analysis unveils that the pursuit of a given structural configuration results from a set of operating contingencies and a deliberate managerial effort to align firm idiosyncrasies with desired strategic outcomes. We advance a grounded theory of knowledge-focused organizational design in small high-tech innovators and formulate propositions that may be tested in future inquiries in the field.

中文翻译：

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纯结构还是灵巧配置？创新企业中以知识为中心的组织设计的扎根理论

关于维持有效知识流动、促进创新和在组织中实现卓越绩效的最佳结构设计，现有文献仍然没有定论。在小型高科技创新者的特定背景下，我们为正在进行的关于正式、非正式和灵巧配置的辩论做出了贡献。采用归纳法构建理论，我们探讨了导致样本公司中以知识为中心的设计差异的因素。在我们的研究中，创新企业依赖于纯粹的正式和非正式组织设计，但也试图将两者混合在一起，这表明从两面性中获得的收益并非无处不在。我们的分析表明，追求给定的结构配置源于一系列经营突发事件和刻意的管理努力，以使公司特质与预期的战略结果保持一致。我们在小型高科技创新者中提出了以知识为中心的组织设计的扎根理论，并制定了可能在该领域未来调查中检验的命题。