I am currently working on a number of exciting research projects. Please read about some of them below.

Pathways to innovation under conditions of organisational ambidexterity: The role of organisational identity and culture (Cardiff Business School Post-doctoral fellowship) 

Project Overview: Recently, a plethora of conceptual, theoretical and empirical work linking the joint pursuit of an exploitative and exploratory orientation to superior firm performance has emerged (e.g. He and Wong, 2004; Lubatkin et al. 2006). A relatively smaller body of research focuses on the organizational characteristics that lead to ambidexterity. For example, Lavie et al. (2010) highlight that identity impacts exploration and exploitation by shaping the evolution of organizational culture. Organizational identity refers to the collectively shared beliefs and understandings about central and relatively permanent attributes of an organization (Gioia et al. 2000). It, therefore, provides the dominant logic that guides an organization’s exploitative and exploratory focus and shapes the evolution of organizational culture (Miles and Snow, 1978; Tripsas, 2009). Organizational culture refers to the shared mental assumptions that guide interpretation and action in organizations (Fiol, 1991; Ravasi and Schultz, 2006) and acts as a social control mechanism (O’Reilly and Chatman, 1996). Sorensen (2002) demonstrated that organizations with strong cultures, whose members share strongly held norms and values (O’Reilly and Chatman, 1996), tend to exploit existing capabilities at the expense of exploration. Prima facie, consensus on corporate goals and values constrain an organization to operate within the realm of what is known and established (Andrews et al. 1999). Nevertheless, some studies suggest a positive association between a shared organizational context and exploration insofar as the organization’s mission advocates continuous innovation (Andriopoulos and Lewis, 2009, 2010). Such a mission may encourage a broader search for new information that facilitates experimentation (Ravasi and Schultz, 2006; Sidhu et al. 2004).

The project seeks to pursue the following objectives:
1.     To explore how organizational identity is related to organizational ambidexterity.
2.     To explore how organizational culture is related to organizational ambidexterity.
3.     To develop and test hypotheses on the influence of organizational identity and culture on organizational ambidexterity and firm performance.
(With Allanah Johnston (Post-doctoral fellow), Rob Morgan, Manto Gotsi and Luigi de Luca (Cardiff Business School))

Organisational ambidexterity and cognition

Project Overview: High performance and even long-run organizational survival demands both exploration and exploitation, competing forms of innovation that require disparate mindsets, practices and structures. Ambidexterity is often proposed as the solution, but understanding of this organizational ability remains limited and examples scarce. Most studies examine related strategies and structures, yet note the importance of a shared, underlying mindset. In response, this qualitative study seeks to open the black box of cognition. More specifically, we examine underlying relational schemata, which offer a bridge between cognition and social interactions. 
(with Marianne Lewis, University of Cincinnati; Manto Gotsi, Westminster Business School and Amy Ingram, Clemson University)

Organising ambidexterity over time

Project Overview: Extant research has addressed static features and attributes of ambidextrous organisations, yet has not revealed how such firms organize for exploratory and exploitative activities over time. In our inductive case study of five organizations in the new product design industry, we find that high-performing organizations employ a cyclical approach to configuring and orchestrating their architectures over time. Those less successful firms were not only unable to engage in both phases successfully, but also had difficulty in developing a meta-capacity to implement cyclical approaches. 
(with Justin Jansen, RSM Erasmus University and Michael Tushman, Harvard Business School)