Towards an understanding of ‘dynamic ambidexterity’ in supporting managerial resilience

Resilience is clearly a desirable attribute, but characterising it is challenging. Individual- and organizational-level resilience are established fields of study, whereas mid-range, managerial-level, evidence of how resilience is achieved is lacking. In this paper we develop the argument that the ability both to exploit and explore (i.e. ambidexterity) may support, and be a valuable way to analyse, resilience. We ask: ‘What ambidextrous actions support managerial resilience?’ We report on a study carried out with senior staff from five major UK-based organizations. From our qualitative data investigating critical incidents and ‘near-misses’ we first unpack the key actions that managers undertake, categorising them in terms of ‘preparing’, ‘noticing’, ‘identifying’ and ‘determining potential responses’. These contain complex, interwoven, exploitative and exploratory characteristics which enable the awareness and containment of potential adversities, yet these vary over time. We posit that these actions are supported by the ‘dynamics’ of contextual ambidexterity which we identify and illustrate. These findings contribute to both the ambidexterity and resilience literatures and lead to practical considerations for managers.