Regulatory Focus, Ambidextrous Learning and Opportunity Recognition in New Product Development

This study focuses on individual managers’ ambidextrous learning and examines its psychological antecedents and consequences in the new product development (NPD) context. Specifically, drawing on the regulatory focus theory, this study examines the relationship between the regulatory focus (i.e., promotion focus and prevention focus), ambidextrous learning, and NPD opportunity recognition. Based on survey data of 225 NPD project managers in high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises in China, we find that NPD project managers’ promotion focus and prevention focus, acting as an enabler and a deterrent respectively, affect their ambidextrous learning, which in turn facilitates opportunity recognition in the NPD process. Further analyses reveal that ambidextrous learning mediates the effects of promotion and prevention focus on NPD opportunity recognition. Our findings offer new insights on the individual ambidexterity regarding the unique role of ambidextrous learning, manifested as actionable managerial capability, and also practical implications on how NPD project managers can self-regulate their behaviour for the benefit of NPD.