The Relationship between Organizational Ambidexterity and Family Business Performance

Abstract

The concept of organizational ambidexterity is vitally important for family businesses as they have specific characteristics that lead to the ability to pursue both exploitive and exploratory orientation which results in a positive performance effect on family businesses. Organizational ambidexterity (OA) is currently recognized as one of the most critical factors in achieving sustainable competitive advantage; since there is not only short-term activity but also long-term innovation at the basis of organizational ambidexterity. In this respect, the aim of this study is to examine the concept of organizational ambidexterity from the theoretical perspective and to determine the organizational ambidexterity levels of the family businesses within the scope of this research and to determine the relationship between the organizational ambidexterity levels of those family businesses and their performances.  For this purpose, the questionnaire technique was utilized developing questions from the existing literature. The questionnaire considering 47 items was presented to  approximately 500 family businesses operating inTurkeythrough face to face interviews or via internet. At the end of the research 349 net responses were obtained from those family businesses. As a result of the Structural Equation Model used in the analysis, findings indicate that there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between organizational ambidexterity and the family business performance.