A study of culture dimensions, organizational ambidexterity, and perceived innovation in teams

The impetus to innovate has emphasized the importance of organization’s ability to both explore and explot new ideas or what is referred to as ambidexterity. This study examined ambidexterity as a predictor of teams’ perception of their innovation. It also examined the impact of culture-power distance, uncertainty avoidance, collectivism, masculinity, and short-term orientation IT teams’ explorative and exploitative behaviors. The results also show that team ambidexterity is a predictor of innovation. Power distance is negatively related to explorative behavior. Collectivist characteristics are positively associated with both explorative and exploitative behaviors. Masculine behavior likewise predict more explorative behavior. The results can guide human resource development efforts geared to foster greater innovation within teams in organizations.