Ambidexterity strategic model-behavior logic and path choice

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to offer an alternative framework and solution for balancing exploitation-exploration tensions and their management. Design/methodology/approach - A case study method was adopted to uncover what underlies tensions and contradictions between exploitation-exploration that emerge for Chinese manufacturing companies due to the competitive global environment and their latecomer disadvantages when they source new technologies by cross-border mergers and acquisitions. The acquiring firm that acquires two companies is thus not a single but a cross-case study. Findings - The authors present three contradictory points needing to be balanced and according to which three paradoxes emerge: exploitation from a similar knowledge base and innovation from a complementary knowledge base, efficiency and flexibility, as well as profit and breakthroughs. The authors theorize how paradoxical integration helps manage these interwoven tensions. Further, the assimilate-integration-apply (AIA) path suggests a new behavior logic and path choice for Chinese companies when they follow an ambidextrous strategy. Research limitations/implications - This paper has implications for future research and for companies' everyday practice on ambidexterity in Chinese society. Originality/value - The authors combine ambidexterity perspective and AIA path with linkage-leverage-learning (LLL) to offer an alternative framework and solution for balancing exploitation-exploration paradoxes in EE firms' internationalization to increase LLL's explanatory power.