Tibor Dőry

Innovation and excellence

Management methods for innovation transformation

Exploitation and exploration

Over the past two decades, researchers have examined the phenomenon and significance of ambidextrous organisations and organisational ambidexterity from several perspectives. Based on my study of the literature and my experience as a manager and expert, I believe that the secret is that there is no secret: you simply have to work hard and experiment a lot to create an innovative organisation. And let us not forget that many organisations simply fail when it comes to setting or not setting goals, because, to quote an anonymous management classic, "goals that are not set cannot be achieved"!

Empirical research results show that in an environment full of technological uncertainties, organisational ambidexterity has a positive effect on corporate performance. This phenomenon has previously been examined primarily from a structural, organisational and financial perspective, but the dilemma of ambidextrous organisations is much deeper than that: it encompasses not only independent organisational units, but also different competencies, systems, incentives, processes and cultures. It is important to understand how the innovation cultures of individual organisational units, groups and teams differ from each other, what tensions arise from this, and how management can contribute to the coordination of different areas of innovation in order to ensure the success of developments (O'Reilly–Tushman, 2004).

The functioning of an ambidextrous organisation involves not only optimising and exploiting the company's existing processes, but also exploring and discovering new business areas. An ambidextrous organisation is therefore effective in the business environment and adapts to environmental and market changes by introducing innovations and other changes. Simultaneously managing exploitation and discovery requires a delicate and fragile balance on the part of management, which few companies succeed in achieving. This is because the value systems and motivations of different departments and teams differ and are sometimes even contradictory, causing conflict in the achievement of the goals and aspirations of different units.

Table 6. Characteristics of exploration and exploitation in ambidextrous organisations

	Exploration	Exploitation
Organisation	agile structure	hierarchical structure
Management style	future-oriented, supportive	autocratic, controlling
Work approach	encouraging creativity	encouraging efficiency and optimisation
Typical work methods	flexibility, experimentation, and risk-taking	fine-tuning, incremental improvements, execution
Outcomes	new design, new markets, new business units	refined design, existing markets and business units
Time horizon	long term	short term

Source: own compilation.

Tartalomjegyzék

Kiadó: Akadémiai Kiadó

Online megjelenés éve: 2026

ISBN: 978 963 664 182 5

Menedzsment

The aim of the book "Innovation and Excellence" is to inspire and encourage company leaders, managers, and experts to initiate and implement innovation transformations with the help of professional literature and corporate case studies. Another important goal is to help develop the innovation capabilities of small and medium-sized enterprises in particular by sharing simple, proven management methods that can be tested in practice.

The first part of the volume reviews the factors of corporate excellence and success, then highlights the possible sources of innovation, with a focus on the role of users and employees. The empirical section presents a detailed description of the supportive role of the workplace environment and creative working conditions based on corporate case studies (AUDI, BOSCH, MELECS). The volume concludes with a description of selected tested practical methods and management techniques that readers can try out in their own businesses.

Hivatkozás: https://mersz.hu/dory-innovation-and-excellence//

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