Expert Talk: Driving Organizational Change through Ambidexterity

Event Details

How can companies find a way out of the innovation dilemma? Dr. Stefan Konlechner and Dr. Arne Keller of the TU Wien Institute of Management Science share their insights at the TU Wien Academy Expert Talk on Wednesday, March 23, 2022 from 6 PM.

Join the discussion with our experts

The innovation dilemma refers to the difficulty of optimally investing resources in incremental or radical innovations.

Successful companies in particular show a tendency to push incremental innovations and to serve existing customers. This leads to a fading out of potential new target groups or latent needs and significantly limits the ability to react to radical innovations by competitors.

To be successful in the long term, however, companies must strive not to neglect their existing core business while at the same time recognizing and exploiting opportunities as they arise. This simultaneous pursuit of the learning modes of exploration and exploitation is referred to as ambidextry.

In order to establish ambidextry in practice, decisions have to be made on how to differentiate exploration and exploitation and how to reintegrate the results. Differentiation is achieved in particular by intervening in the organizational structure. Here, for example, decentralized project structures, innovation incubators and independent business units (ventures) play an important role. Integration can take place via organizational culture, strategic leadership and HR practices. These variants each have different operating conditions as well as advantages and disadvantages for organizations.

Look forward to

• Well-researched background knowledge
• Discussion & exchange
• Networking Reception

Date & Place

March 23, 2022, 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. (admission from approx. 5:30 p.m.)

TU Wien, 1040 Vienna, Boecklsaal
We are looking forward to your registration via our contact form!

It is possible to join the event via Zoom – please let us know if you want to participate on site or online.

The number of participants is limited. For participation in the event, the general Covid rules of conduct of the TU Wien, opens an external URL in a new window apply. We reserve the right to make changes at short notice due to COVID pandemic regulations.

Registration via our contact form.

About the Experts

Stefan W. Konlechner works as a Senior Scientist at the Institute of Management Science, TU Wien. His main research interests focus on understanding organizational change processes. For this purpose he draws on concepts such as dynamic capabilities, organizational ambidexterity and the sensemaking perspective. His research has been published in academic journals such as the Journal of Management, Human Relations, Organizational Dynamics, and the International Journal of Technology Management.

Arne Keller is a postdoctoral researcher in the research area of Leadership & Strategy at the Institute of Management Science at the TU Wien. He received a B.Sc. in Business Administration and an M.Sc. in Management & Marketing from Freie Universität Berlin, where he earned a Dr. rer. pol. (Doctor of Economics). His research interests lie at the intersection of strategic management, organizational theory and innovation management. In particular, he is concerned with the characteristics and dynamics of organizational competencies, strategic responses to technological change, organizational inertia, ambidextry, and the governance of strategic alliances.

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