Citation
(2014), "2013 Awards for Excellence", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 48 No. 1/2. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-02-2014-001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2013 Awards for Excellence
Article Type: 2013 Awards for Excellence From: European Journal of Marketing, Volume 48, Issue 1/2
The following article was selected for this year's Outstanding Paper Award for European Journal of Marketing
"Pursuing 'flexible commitment' as strategic ambidexterity: an empirical justification in high technology firms"
Yiannis Kouropalatis
Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
Paul Hughes
The Business School, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK
Robert E. Morgan
Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
Purpose – Firms face high velocity conditions today that render product market strategies increasingly temporal. Strategic flexibility is critical for enabling rapid adaptation to a changing environment. At the same time, managerial commitment to product-market strategy signifies the extent to which a manager comprehends and supports the strategy and reflects a necessary sense of ownership for any chosen product-market strategy. The purpose of this paper, then, is to examine strategically ambidextrous firms through the twin lenses of flexibility and commitment to determine whether performance benefits accrue from such characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach – While traditional research streams examine strategic flexibility and commitment to product-market strategy as opposing ends of a continuum, this paper adopts a
broader perspective and examines strategic flexibility and commitment to product-market strategy
as elements of strategically ambidextrous firms. Cluster analysis is used to identify groups of high
and low strategically ambidextrous firms.
Findings – Strategically ambidextrous firms exhibit commitment to product-market strategy, which
enables the effective realisation of selected strategies through focusing managerial attention and
firm resources, and strategic flexibility, which enables adaptation of the planned product-market
strategy based on feedback received, or abandonment followed by new strategic choices and
impetus. The paper reveals that firms with high strategic ambidexterity exhibit significantly greater
levels of strategic resources, decentralisation, product-market strategy process effectiveness, and
implementation effectiveness compared with low ambidexterity firms. Thus, strategic ambidexterity
is revealed to endow significant performance benefits.
Originality/value – This paper addresses the need to examine ambidexterity as "flexible commitment".
Keywords Product-market strategy, Strategic process, Ambidexterity, Flexibility, Commitment,
Business performance, Corporate strategy
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/03090561211248099
This article originally appeared in Volume 46 Number 10, 2012, European Journal of Marketing
The following articles were selected for this year’s Highly Commended Award
"Do initial stock price reactions provide a good measurement stick for marketing strategies? The case of new product introductions in the US"
Dmitri G. Markovitch
Joel H. Steckel
This article originally appeared in Volume 46 Number 3, 2012, European Journal of Marketing
"Strategic flexibilities and export performance: the moderating roles of export market-oriented behavior and the export environment"
John W. Cadogan
Sanna Sundqvist
Kaisu Puumalainen
Risto T. Salminen
This article originally appeared in Volume 46 Number 10, 2012, European Journal of Marketing
"Does rhetoric impact advertising effectiveness with liking controlled?"
Bruce A. Huhmann
Pia A. Albinsson
This article originally appeared in Volume 46 Number 11, 2012, European Journal of Marketing
Outstanding Reviewers
Dr Danielle Dimitrov
Dr Nicholas Clarke