Does Spatial Ambidexterity Pay Off? A Firm-level Investigation of Technological Performance

摘要

Firms, when innovating, need to devote attention to both exploration and exploitation. However, whether to separate or collocate exploratory and exploitative activities is still subject of much debate. While a number of scholars plea for separation, others suggest that collocation might be more advantageous. Acknowledging the inherent benefits and drawbacks of both organizational design choices, introduces the question to what extent (dis-)advantages actually prevail. Large-scale empirical research is scarce. In this paper, we examine whether and to what extent 'spatial ambidexterity' is beneficial for the technological performance of firms. Spatial ambidexterity reflects the degree to which exploration and exploitation are pursued in the same or in different regions. Our study draws on a panel dataset of 169 large R&D intensive firms situated within five industries and examines global technology development activities at the regional level. Our findings reveal that collocating - implying spatial proximity of exploration and exploitation - positively affects the technological inventiveness of firms without jeopardizing the quality of the inventions. The results show that especially technological activities of a more explorative nature benefit from collocating exploration and exploitation (within the same region). The presence of economies of scale and the likely enactment of spillovers seem to outweigh the increase in coordination costs and/or the lack of focus (the latter associated with collocated activities of a different nature). Our findings challenge the beliefs advanced by ambidexterity scholars, who stress the relevance of separating exploration from exploitation when engaging in technological invention.