Part 1 - Back to the roots of ambidexterity and its limitations in the unknown

The first chapter addresses a historic paper on balancing exploration and exploitation for organization learning (March 1991). It has fed several streams of literature including innovation management, organizational structure and performance and behavioural literature. We propose to examine the assumptions made on the Marchian problem-based model. We cover the emphasis put on exploration at the light of the unknown. In other words, one of the major stakes of innovation management. We will raise several issues questioning the validity of models of ambidexterity. The developments in design theories and reasoning allow stressing the challenges imposed by generative processes as they address the unknown and how adaptive processes and interactionist perspectives manage it.

In the second chapter, we have a close look at literature where the unknown is at the centre of the discussion. It lets specifying a different coordination mechanisms where generative processes can be encapsulated: exploration projects. We discuss, at the light of generativity, how project management addresses exploration regime and its setting in an organizational context: organization design and change management. It allows to loop back with the original challenge of organizational learning and adaptation.

Several limitations and aporia are identified in the literature by the

community encouraging us to formalize our research questions given a common theoretical model with associated descriptors (chapter 3 - Research Questions)

a non-mutual conditioning of exploration and exploitation. This portrait will allow us to test it on adequate case studies (chapters 4 and 5).

References