Fostering Ambidextrous Innovation Strategies in Large Infrastructure Projects

Abstract

In emerging economies, infrastructure projects are in full swing. There
is a wealth of replicable experience for exploitation. Simultaneously,
more technologies and methodologies require further exploration. This
makes fostering ambidextrous innovation strategies (i.e., the tradeoff
between exploitative and exploratory innovation strategies) a common and
vital practical issue. Large infrastructure projects are unique one-off
endeavors but have somewhat repetitive and persistent characteristics.
It is a particular “intermediate” form between temporary projects and
permanent organizations. Previous research on fostering ambidextrous
innovation strategies cannot simply be replicated in large
infrastructure projects. To address this issue, this article
investigates the relationship between team heterogeneity and
ambidextrous innovation strategies and also the role of team learning
and identification in large infrastructure projects. Data were collected
from 269 responses from 31 large infrastructure project delivery teams
in China. The findings show that team heterogeneity has a positive
linear effect on exploratory and ambidextrous innovation strategies and
an inverted U-shaped effect on exploitative innovation strategies; team
heterogeneity can better foster ambidextrous innovation strategies
through improving team learning; the moderating role of team
identification in the overall mechanism differs from the usual
assumptions in permanent organizations. Overall, this article extends
the existing ambidexterity research in the “intermediate” form between
temporary projects and permanent organizations. It provides insights and
guidance on fostering ambidextrous innovation strategies in large
infrastructure projects.