Antecedents & perspectives of ambidextrous leadership

Abstract

This paper summarizes the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific discussion on the issue of ambidexterity in leadership. The main purpose of the research is to provide a theoretical guidance on those antecedents and perspectives of Ambidextrous Leadership (AL) which is based on a literature review. Literary sources and approaches dealing with these paradoxical behaviours indicate that besides a contextual organizational framework especially managers are mainly in the focus of research. The relevance of the decision of this scientific problem is that many organizations today need to be flexible and adaptable simultaneously for fulfilling their goals. Investigation of the topic AL in the paper is carried out in the following logical sequence. After introducing the relevance and need of new approaches in leadership, the fundamental theory and consequences on AL are provided. Therefore, the theoretical basis for ambidexterity is explained and reasons to understand ambidexterity as a leadership challenge are given. Methodological tools of the research methods were undertaken through a review of 25 papers that have been published in peer-reviewed journals since 2004 and up to 2017. For this, a more detailed understanding and discussion are also provided, which has been based on the analysis of the most-cited articles. The analysis has been based on English and German language articles that appear in EBSCO and Beluga. The paper presents the results of a first attempt to provide a literature review which covered the concept of ambidexterity and its relevance as a scientific contribution. The theoretical concept provided the main determinants and consequences for the need for flexible, adaptable, and sustainable leadership. It becomes clear that the antecedents of ambidexterity can be used to understand the positive effects on this need and that this management approach has prospects for sustainability. The research literarily confirms and theoretically proves that ultimately; besides implementation and conceptual problems many management issues can take with this approach. The results of the research can be useful for leading researchers and practitioners. The selected papers may be also used as a valid starting point to research AL with respect to antecedents and perspectives. Managers can also benefit from a better understanding of this concept.

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