Identifying the Factors Enabling Organizational Ambidexterity Capability from a Micro-Foundations Perspective: A Meta-Synthesis Approach

Abstract

Purpose: Ambidexterity, in today’s complex conditions and global competition, is recognized as a critical capability for organizations. Achieving this capability requires the identification of its underlying factors and foundations. Following extensive research on macro-foundations of organizational ambidexterity and growing awareness of the significance of its micro-foundations, many scholars have shifted their focus to this knowledge field, acknowledging the greater impact and importance of ambidexterity factors from a micro-level perspective. Consequently, in recent years, research in this field has grown substantially. However, the absence of a comprehensive and integrative perspective for synthesizing existing findings has been identified as a scientific gap. In light of the practical and synergetic need for a guiding framework to identify and select suitable micro-foundations of ambidexterity for organizations, this study was deemed necessary in this field. To address this need, the research was conducted using a meta-synthesis approach, aiming to comprehensively collect, integrate, and present the data in the form of a practical model.

Method: This study is qualitative in nature and conducted through a meta-synthesis approach. Following Sandelowski and Barroso’s seven-step model, the study involved defining the research question, systematically reviewing the literature, searching and selecting relevant articles, extracting data from literatures, analyzing and synthesizing qualitative findings, assessing quality, and reporting the results. All prior studies on micro-foundations of ambidexterity published in reputable scientific journals between 1990 to March 2025 were reviewed. After screening based on title, based on abstract, and based on content relevance, finally, a total of 87 articles were selected as the study sample. Using thematic analysis, the micro-foundations of ambidexterity were extracted from articles. In this process, each researcher independently reviewed the data extracted from the articles and identified the initial concepts. Then, similar codes were examined in joint meetings and, through consensus, were combined into basic themes. Repetition of this process led to the final refinement of the codes and the development of organizing and overarching themes. following a final reliability check through the Kappa coefficient, the final model Includes organizing themes and overarching themes was developed.

Findings: A total of 124 basic themes representing the micro-foundations of ambidexterity were derived from the selected studies. On the next level, these were subsequently grouped into nine organizing themes based on conceptual similarity and proximity. At the final, four overarching themes—representing the four main dimensions of ambidexterity micro-foundations—were identified. These dimensions, developed to ensure both comprehensiveness and practical applicability, include: (1) instrumental micro-foundations, (2) upstream micro-foundations, (3) enabling micro-foundations, and (4) interactive micro-foundations.

Conclusion: This study categorized micro-foundations of ambidexterity into components such as skills, roles, tasks, knowledge, organizational leadership, managerial practices, structure, culture, and external interactions. Understanding these factors and their subcomponents is essential for developing ambidexterity capability within organizations. Depending on their characteristics and contextual conditions, organizations should adopt the micro-foundations most relevant to their environment. The proposed categorization emphasizes applicability, as it highlights that in addition to the need for upstream adjustments, enabling factors, and external interactions, the tools and mechanisms that generate ambidexterity fundamentally rely on micro-level elements deemed indispensable for its realization.