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Linking strategic flexibility and operational efficiency: The mediating role of ambidextrous operational capabilities
Author(s) -
Kortmann Sebastian,
Gelhard Carsten,
Zimmermann Carsten,
Piller Frank T.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of operations management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.649
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1873-1317
pISSN - 0272-6963
DOI - 10.1016/j.jom.2014.09.007
Subject(s) - ambidexterity , flexibility (engineering) , operational efficiency , business , process management , resource (disambiguation) , personalization , knowledge management , competitive advantage , strategic management , dynamic capabilities , structural equation modeling , operational excellence , industrial organization , operations management , computer science , marketing , management , economics , computer network , machine learning
We elucidate the important, though complex, relationship between strategic flexibility and operational efficiency. We incorporate insights from the dynamic resource‐based view, ambidexterity literature and managerial practice to explain how two ambidextrous operational capabilities, i.e., mass customization capability and innovative ambidexterity, fully mediate the relationship between strategic flexibility and operational efficiency. Using top‐level executive data in India and the United States of America, our structural equation models show that ambidextrous operational capabilities link strategic flexibility and operational efficiency. While informing the debate on developing sustainable competitive advantage, we derive important theoretical and managerial implications for both operations management and strategic management.