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The dynamic capabilities perspective focuses on the ability of an organization to develop its resource base in order to meet environmental expectations. Therefore, it is closely interrelated to the issue of managing the interaction of exploration and exploitation. The competence of continuously optimizing the interaction of exploration and exploitation has been referred to as organizational ambidexterity. Managing this interaction implies resolving a firm's permanent struggle to overcome the barriers related to the right configuration between exploration and exploitation.

By incorporating the concept of combinative capabilities as balancing routines into the conceptualization of ambidexterity we distinguish structural, interaction, and socialization capabilities that are deployed in overcoming these barriers to resource (re)configuration.

Drawing on knowledge management and barriers to resource configuration we expect that the way organizations deploy combinative capabilities to manage the interaction between exploration and exploitation depends on the observed barriers to resource (re)configuration. By combining the constructs of barriers to resource reconfiguration, ambidexterity, and combinative capabilities we intend to gain more insight in the way organizations manage the actual interaction between exploration and exploitation. Our paper will introduce a set of propositions indicating the relationship between ambidexterity, barriers to resource (re)configuration, and combinative capabilities as balancing routines.

In one of his most cited works, March (1991) observed that “The basic problem confronting an organization is to engage in sufficient exploitation to ensure its current viability and, at the same time, devote enough energy to exploration to exploration to ensure its future viability” (p. 105). The need to simultaneously pursue exploration and exploitation is a cornerstone of organizational ambidexterity, with the embedded assumption that exploratory ventures require organic management systems and exploitative activities benefit from more mechanistic management systems. The authors argue that this assumption about system alignment is neither well-supported by empirical evidence nor well-grounded in March’s original ideas about exploration and exploitation. The authors review the existing empirical evidence on the management systems that support exploration and exploitation and reveal some of the empirical and conceptual challenges. The authors then share a quasi-experimental study of 49 project teams over an 18-month period where they investigated how components of the management system – formalization, specialization, hierarchy, and leadership – differentially affect project success for explore and exploit projects. The authors find that exploitation projects can succeed under either mechanistic or organic systems, but that exploratory project performance suffers under a mechanistic system. In addition, the authors also find that leadership is the most important determinant of project success or failure. The authors discuss the implications of these results for future studies of organizational ambidexterity and draw attention to some of the underdeveloped ideas in March’s original article that might further advance the field.

The highly unpredictable, complex, and dynamic business environment forces companies to innovate constantly. One organizational response to coping with environmental pressures is organizational ambidexterity, that is, the ability to pursue simultaneously the exploitation of existing capabilities and the exploration of new opportunities. It has an impact on the way of working, and consequently, organizations need to reevaluate their talent strategies. With this conceptual contribution, we first provide a fresh view on talent and talent management (TM) by suggesting an ambidextrous TM approach, including novel TM practices that have been rather neglected in the so far dominant traditional TM approach. It centers on the system-controlling element of an ambidextrous mindset. Second, in a theory-based framework, we explain how dynamic TM capabilities (hybrid, dual, and ambidextrous TM), which represent processes for deploying, developing, and shaping talent, can contribute to gaining competitive advantages in various ambidextrous structures reflecting the complexity and dynamism of and within human resource (HR) ecosystems. The authors advance the under-researched process perspective on TM by using the lenses of the HR ecosystems discussion, insights from a dynamic view on the person–environment fit, and dynamic capabilities. The authors conclude with a broad agenda for future research in TM in dynamic environments.

In this chapter, we connect our focus — the organizing of marketing — to one of the strongest drivers for its change — digitalization — and draw attention to various “dual forces” that affect marketing as a consequence. These dual forces are associated with the concept of ambidexterity. Given that companies today are affected by digitalization, both internally in their organizations and in their external business relations, and that they need to act as ambidextrous organizations handling both old (“analog”) and new (“digital”) situations, how does this affect marketing, in general, and the organizing of marketing, in particular?

The chapter will be founded on the assumptions that digitalization is a central driver of change in business and society today, and this digitalization requires organizations to explore new opportunities while still operating with mature technologies in mature markets. Marketing most often has a central role in this situation of digitalization. The connection between digitalization processes, ambidextrous organizations, and the processes of organizing marketing is the focus of this chapter.

The subject is wide, and the aim of the chapter is to generate ideas on some potential consequences for marketing management and organization. The chapter ends with a set of propositions serving as starting points for further studies of the links between digitalization, marketing management and organization, as well as the forces resulting from digitalization.

One of the fundamental objectives of adopting digital supply chain (DSC) is to uplift the performance of an organization. Although a wide variety of literature confirms the impact of DSC on performance, it is hard to explore as to which dimensions of the performance is affected by DSC and how much. This chapter undertakes discussion on the impact of DSC on the various organizational performance indicators. The chapter also denotes some major key performance indicators (KPIs) that organization can track to gauge the impact of DSC on performance. A brief discussion on the challenges related to the development, adoption, and continuation of KPIs is also appeared in the later part of the chapter. The chapter concludes by denoting that the utilization of digital technologies (DTs) such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and complex analytics in DSC has prospects for enhancing the operational efficiency, transparency, and agility of a supply chain (SC). Organizations that adopt these DTs have experienced better demand forecasting, reduced time order fulfillment time, and higher levels of consumer satisfaction. Nonetheless, the successful use of DSC requires development and implantation of KPIs regularly.

Blockchain, in general, diversifies supply chain management in record-keeping and maintains authenticity. In addition, traditional issues and challenges like overflow and information overload press down mysteriously whenever the blockchain steering wheel of the supply chain turns. Factually, the miracle and twists in supply chain resilience have not been incorporated under systematic review homogeneously. As a result, this study reviews the potential impact of blockchain on logistics and supply chain (LSC) efficiency. The methodology of this study provides a subjective assessment of the utility of blockchain-based LSC performance.

On the other hand, the review reveals new insights on its current acceptance and applications, with a particular emphasis on the Limit Redundancy Mechanism and Core Information-based Direct Comparison. Prospectively, the identified facts under the research paradigm and extensive literature survey will subsidize the practices of blockchain technology and possible areas of extension in supply chain resilience in luminous fashion in the future. After all, this study materializes new solid magnitudes, adaptability, and a realistic overview of blockchain-based LSC movements.

Rolling out lean operations practices in MNCs’ plants is a complex knowledge transfer process whose design and implementation, though critical to operations performance, to date has not been investigated by operations management, international business, strategy, and organizational design research. Applying conceptual tools drawn from various theoretical approaches to knowledge management, transfer and diffusion, this exploratory study: (a) classifies and interprets lean roll-out processes in MNCs, framing them in terms of (i) knowledge replication strategies (template vs. principles-based), (ii) decentralization of decision making (degree of plant autonomy), and (iii) type of organizational ambidexterity (structural vs. contextual) underlying the process; (b) develops, through seven case studies of lean roll-outs in MNCs’ plants, three testable propositions about what might enhance the lean roll-out process performance, arguing about the individual and combined effect of the three above mentioned dimensions on lean roll-out effectiveness and efficiency. We posit that an approach characterized by principles-based knowledge replication, larger decentralization, and prevalence of contextual ambidexterity positively impacts on roll-out process performance.

Creativity and innovation have been buzzwords of managerial discourse over the last few decades as they contribute to the long-term survival and competitiveness of firms. Given the non-linear, causally ambiguous, and intangible nature of all innovation-related phenomena, management scholars have been trying to uncover factors that contribute to creativity and innovation from multiple lenses ranging from organizational behavior at the micro-level to strategic management at the macro-level. Along with important and insightful developments in these research streams that evolved independently from one another, human resource management (HRM) research – especially from a strategic perspective – has only recently started to contribute to a better understanding of both creativity and innovation. The goal of this chapter is to review the contributions of strategic HRM research to an improved understanding of creativity at the individual-level and innovation at the firm-level. In organizing this review, the authors rely on the open innovation funnel as a metaphor to review research on both HRM practices and HRM systems that contribute to creativity and innovation. In the last section, the authors focus on more recent developments in HRM research that focus on ambidexterity – as a way for HRM to simultaneously facilitate exploration and exploitation. This chapter concludes with a discussion of future research directions.

COVID-19 not only has impacted adversely the health infrastructure, taking away lives of millions of people but it has also crippled the economy. The worst effected were food supply chain due to restrictions imposed on operations of shops and retail outlets. The consumers were suffering due to lack of supply. Similarly, agriculture produce were getting wasted due to lack of cold storage.

In this case we have proposed how a mobile-based application solution during COVID lockdown can successfully transform the livelihood of rural farmers in the state of Maharashtra (India), a state worst affected by the pandemic.

The technology-integrated supply chain model jointly developed by financial institutions, self-help groups (SHGs) and NGOs has enabled direct selling of fresh produces by rural women farmers to urban large residential societies at their doorsteps. It has provided a solution of municipality waste management by converting the waste to compost, getting them collected and used in the farmlands.

It will help the urban consumers to have the continuous supply of fresh vegetables and fruits available at their doorsteps, and keep a track of transport of foods from farm to fork. The farmers will be able to get better price for their produce. The model will also contribute towards circular economy (CE) through citizen partnership.

The issue of trust in Industry 4.0 is extremely important from an organization’s perspective. The dynamic development of 4.0 technologies implies wide-ranging changes, which, in order to be implemented effectively, require cooperation based on trust. The purpose of this literature analysis is to identify key research areas regarding trust in Industry 4.0 and to identify further research directions.

Based on a comprehensive literature analysis, the most prominent areas of research on trust issues in Industry 4.0 will be presented (k=36). This chapter will also identify and discuss directions for further research.

The results of the analysis enable to illustrate the trends of science development in the area of Industry 4.0, as well as to identify key issues related to trust. Moreover, the research problems for further studies on the analyzed issue will also be indicated.

The research presented here identifies key Industry 4.0 technologies that are based on trust.

The review provides a valuable resource for practitioners regarding the critical aspects of implementing Industry 4.0 with respect to trust.

This is the first comprehensive literature review diagnosing research areas, technologies, and directions for future research on trust in Industry 4.0.