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Knowledge input development and innovation implementation are new features of industrial technology innovation. The purpose of this study is to find the process of coordination and ecological spiral in the ambidextrous innovation of industrial technology.

To design the model of industrial technology ambidextrous innovation based on knowledge ecology spiral, an input-output model of knowledge for ambidextrous innovation and a spiral model of knowledge ecology were constructed based on an improved Lotka-Volterra model. Then, the equilibriums in different knowledge inputs and the spiral evolution of knowledge ecology were analyzed. Finally, the ambidextrous coordination mechanism of the core organization was revealed.

By coordinating the knowledge inputs and the knowledge ecology spiral, enterprises extend the R&D investments in the innovation chain, which will facilitate the knowledge inputs of the exploitative and exploratory innovation. Implementing the ambidextrous coordination in the technology innovation chain and the knowledge ecology chain has the advantage of promoting knowledge inputs, mobility and ecological spiral. Meanwhile, it can achieve the “multi-source, integration and coordination” development of industrial technology innovation.

The two-element innovative knowledge input coordination model and the knowledge ecological spiral model based on the improved Lotka-Volterra model are constructed, which extends the modeling way of the traditional knowledge input-output profit model. It is expected to reduce the amount of knowledge input of a single member and provide theoretical reference for improving the efficiency of knowledge input by constructing the inter-dependent regenerative and inter-generative knowledge interaction.

How do institutional pressures influence the cluster firm’s innovation? Institutional pressure consists of regulative, normative and cognitive pressures; most scholars have only focused on the influence of regulative pressure as institutional environment on innovation. In addition, the nature of strategic cognition, as the mediator act on innovation strategy, remains underexplored in the literature. Based on institution theory and ambidextrous innovation theory, this study aims to propose a framework to examine the mechanism of institutional pressures acting on ambidextrous innovation through the moderated mediating role of strategic cognition in clusters.

Using survey data collected from 422 sampled firms in China, regression models were used to test hypotheses from the mediating role of strategic cognition between institutional pressures and cluster firm’s ambidextrous innovation.

The results showed that regulative, cognitive pressures and, especially, normative pressures have significant positive effects on cluster firms’ ambidextrous innovation. Strategic cognition presented by prospector and analyzer mediates the relationship between institutional pressure and ambidextrous innovation except defender; dynamic environment positively moderates the mediating effects of prospector cognition on explorative innovation, and negatively moderates the mediating effects of analyzer cognition on exploitative innovation.

The findings of this study have some implications that strategic cognition played a partially meditating role between the institutional pressure and ambidextrous innovation. Government should construct a dynamic innovation policy system according to the resource endowment in different regions; furthermore, classification support system to cluster firms with different strategic cognition should be built.

This study empirically investigates how ambidextrous innovations and their balancing affect the supply chain financing performance (SCFP) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), based on signaling theory. Moreover, this study explores the moderating effect of the breadth and depth of digital technology deployment on the relationship between ambidextrous innovations and the SCFP of SMEs.

A mixed-methods design is used, including a qualitative study and a quantitative study. Qualitative data have been collected from six multi-cases in different industries. Questionnaire data have been collected from 259 SMEs in China, and a multiple regression model is used to verify the research hypotheses.

The findings indicate that, in supply chain financing, both exploitative innovation and exploratory innovation are helpful in improving the SCFP of SMEs. For resource-constrained SMEs, a relative balance between exploitative innovation and exploratory innovation can help improve SCFP. The breadth of digital technology deployment can strengthen the relationship between exploitative innovation and SCFP, while the depth of digital technology deployment can weaken the relationship between exploratory innovation and SCFP. In addition, increasing the depth of digital technology deployment strengthens the positive correlation between the relative balance of ambidextrous innovations and SCFP.

To effectively obtain supply chain financing, SMEs can either concentrate their limited resources on a single type of innovation or use relative balance strategies to simultaneously pursue two innovations. In addition, in the process of obtaining supply chain financing by ambidextrous innovations, SMEs should appropriately deploy digital technologies.

This study first deconstructs the impact mechanism of ambidextrous innovation capabilities on SCFP based on signaling theory, and then discusses the balancing effect of ambidextrous innovations on SCFP in the cases of resource-constrained SMEs. This study also goes further and finds the negative moderating effect of digital technology deployment in the process of supply chain financing.

Existing studies have paid less attention to the impact of knowledge accumulation on digital transformation and its boundary conditions. Hence, this study aims to investigate the effects of ambidextrous knowledge accumulation on manufacturing digital transformation under the moderation of dynamic capability.

This study divides knowledge accumulation into exploratory and exploitative knowledge accumulation and divides dynamic capability into alliance management capability and new product development capability. To clarify the relationship among ambidextrous knowledge accumulation, dynamic capability and manufacturing digital transformation, the authors collect data from 421 Chinese listed manufacturing enterprises from 2016 to 2020 and perform analysis by multiple hierarchical regression method, heterogeneity test and robustness analysis.

The empirical results show that both exploratory and exploitative knowledge accumulation can significantly promote manufacturing digital transformation. Keeping ambidextrous knowledge accumulation in parallel is more conducive than keeping single-dimensional knowledge accumulation. Besides, dynamic capability positively moderates the relationship between ambidextrous knowledge accumulation and manufacturing digital transformation. Moreover, the heterogeneity test shows that the impact of ambidextrous knowledge accumulation and dynamic capabilities on manufacturing digital transformation varies widely across different industry segments or different regions.

First, this paper shifts attention to the role of ambidextrous knowledge accumulation in manufacturing digital transformation and expands the connotation and extension of knowledge accumulation. Second, this study reveals that dynamic capability is a vital driver of digital transformation, which corroborates the previous findings of dynamic capability as an important driver and contributes to enriching the knowledge management literature. Third, this paper provides a comprehensive micro measurement of ambidextrous knowledge accumulation and digital transformation based on the development characteristics of the digital economy era, which provides a theoretical basis for subsequent research.

The ongoing paradigm shift in the energy sector holds paramount implications for the realization of the sustainable development goals, encompassing critical domains such as resource optimization, environmental stewardship and workforce opportunities. Concurrently, this transformative trajectory within the power sector possesses a dual-edged nature; it may ameliorate certain challenges while accentuating others. In light of the burgeoning research stream on open innovation, this study aims to examine the intricate dynamics of knowledge-based industry-university-research networking, with an overarching objective to elucidate and calibrate the equilibrium of ambidextrous innovation within power systems.

The authors scrutinize the role of different innovation organizations in three innovation models: ambidextrous, exploitative and exploratory, and use a multiobjective decision analysis method-entropy weight TOPSIS. The research was conducted within the sphere of the power industry, and the authors mined data from the widely used PatSnap database.

Results show that the breadth of knowledge search and the strength of an organization’s direct relationships are crucial for ambidextrous innovation, with research institutions having the highest impact. In contrast, for exploitative innovation, depth of knowledge search, the number of R&D patents and the number of innovative products are paramount, with universities playing the most significant role. For exploratory innovation, the depth of knowledge search and the quality of two-mode network relations are vital, with research institutions yielding the best effect. Regional analysis reveals Beijing as the primary hub for ambidextrous and exploratory innovation organizations, while Jiangsu leads for exploitative innovation.

The study offers valuable implications to cope with the dynamic state of ambidextrous innovation performance of the entire power system. In light of the findings, the dynamic state of ambidextrous innovation performance within the power system can be adeptly managed. By emphasizing a balance between exploratory and exploitative strategies, stakeholders are better positioned to respond to evolving challenges and opportunities. Thus, the study offers pivotal guidance to ensure sustained adaptability and growth in the power sector’s innovation landscape.

The primary originality is to extend and refine the theoretical understanding of ambidextrous innovation within power systems. By integrating several theoretical frameworks, including social network theory, knowledge-based theory and resource-based theory, the authors enrich the theoretical landscape of power system ambidextrous innovation. Also, this inclusive examination of two-mode network structures, including the interplay between knowledge and cooperation networks, unveils the intricate interdependencies between these networks and the ambidextrous innovation of power systems. This approach significantly widens the theoretical parameters of innovation network research.

Given the decisive role of knowledge-oriented leadership (KOL) in boosting organizational innovation capacities, the research intends to investigate the effect of KOL on ambidextrous innovation with the mediating effect of knowledge management capability (KMC). Furthermore, technological turbulence (TT) is regarded as a moderator in the relationship between KMC and ambidextrous innovation.

The data obtained from 122 Pakistani manufacturing firms were used to evaluate the proposed relationships using the partial least square structural equation modeling approach.

The empirical findings demonstrate that KOL positively affects both aspects of ambidextrous innovation, namely exploitative innovation (EII) and exploratory innovation (ERI), with a higher effect on EII. Additionally, knowledge management process capability (KMPC) partially mediates the association between KOL and both dimensions of ambidextrous innovation (EII and ERI). Similarly, knowledge management infrastructure capability (KMIC) mediates the link between KOL and ERI but does not mediate the relationship between KOL and EII. The impacts of the KMPC and KMIC on EII are also significantly moderated by TT, although the link between the two components of the KMC (KMPC and KMIC) and ERI is unaffected.

The research provides useful knowledge and a novel strategy for policymakers to foster KOL and invest in KMC to improve the capabilities of Pakistani manufacturing firms in terms of innovation.

The research has contributed significantly to the resources-based view and knowledge-based view (KBV) literature by examining the various mediation moderation mechanisms and offering greater insights into the relationship between KOL and firms, KMC, and ambidextrous innovations.

The authors aim to measure the effects of ambidextrous innovation and its mix strategy on organizational obsolescence with the moderating roles of environmental turbulence.

Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses on the basis of the survey data of 198 firm employees in China.

Both exploratory and exploitative innovations significantly restrain organizational obsolescence. The complementary strategy of ambidextrous innovation is negatively correlated to organizational obsolescence, but the impact of balanced strategy is not significant. Environmental turbulence negatively moderates the relationship between exploratory innovation and organizational obsolescence, whereas it cannot moderate the effect of exploitative innovation.

The empirical and conceptual findings have important implications for organizations countering obsolescence through the construction of a mix strategy of ambidextrous innovation. This study enriches and extends obsolescence theory by introducing the joint mechanism of ambidextrous innovation and environmental turbulence.

Openness to external knowledge has recently gained popularity as a means for firms to complement and leverage internal knowledge in the pursuit of innovation outcomes. However, conflicting evidence exists regarding the role of openness in external knowledge acquisition. This paper aims to propose that openness to external knowledge has a nonlinear effect on innovation performance and that this nonlinear relationship is contingent on an ambidextrous knowledge search strategy.

Based on original large-scale survey of 246 interfirm collaborations in the high-technology industry, it is found that the impact of openness to external knowledge on innovation performance exhibits an inverted-U shape and that this relationship is affected by an ambidextrous knowledge search strategy.

The results indicate that an ambidextrous knowledge strategy that addresses the depth and breadth of external knowledge significantly influences a firm’s ability to derive benefits from increased openness to external knowledge. Empirically, the authors provide an original contribution to high-technology firms by exploring how and why an ambidextrous knowledge strategy can be a critical catalyst spurring innovation performance.

The research scope is limited to a single industry. Further research could extend the theoretical framework to multiple industries, which may increase the likelihood of innovation theory development.

The results suggest that firms opening up the boundaries of their innovation activity to engage in external knowledge are able to leverage their in-house innovation to enhance their innovation performance. The authors advocate that in innovation management domains, greater emphasis is needed on how openness to external knowledge has more positive impacts not only on innovation performance but also on innovation implemented management.

This study is among the first to investigate the ambidextrous knowledge search effect on the external knowledge of high-technology firms. This paper contributes to the theoretical and practical literature concerning openness innovation and knowledge management by reflecting on the ambidextrous knowledge search strategy.

The objective of this paper is to empirically test and verify the influence of information and communication technology (ICT) capability on environmental performance (EP) of manufacturing, as well as the moderating effect of heterogenous factors and the mediating effect of ambidextrous innovation in the context of the Chinese manufacturing firms.

The data come from the World Bank Enterprise Survey of China conducted from December 2011 to February 2013. The logistic regression is applied with Stata 15, and the robustness test by three methods is employed to verify the reliability of the results in this paper.

The research results suggest that the positive relationship between ICT capability and EP is moderated by two heterogenous factors, including main market and industry attributes. Meanwhile, the positive relationship between ICT capability and EP is mediated by ambidextrous innovation.

This work highlights ICT capability as an important, yet underexplored antecedent in improving the EP of manufacturing firms. This research further uncovers the moderating role of main market and industry attributes, as well as the mediating mechanism by introducing ambidextrous innovation in the relationship between ICT capability and EP.

Recently, corporate venture capital (CVC) has been gaining increasing attention worldwide as a special form of venturing through which non-financial corporations invest in target companies, usually technological firms, as start-ups. These investments mostly aim not at financial goals but constitute a strategic way for the corporation to obtain access to new technologies and innovations through financing entrepreneurial initiatives. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the connections between the core business of the parent company and its venturing investments, investigating, in particular, its “ambidexterity,” i.e., the ability of the CVC company to invest in ventures close to its core activities, exploiting internal resources and exploring new markets.

Stemming from the results of previous studies, this research has applied a discriminating analysis methodology to the 18 most active CVC companies in the world, all of which have technology innovation as the core business of the corporation, in the 2015/2017 period.

An evident correlation between the Financing Round (as the independent variable) and the Entrepreneurial Intensity (as the dependent variable) influences the CVCs investment policies and their behavior with respect to their ambidexterity. This link could also influence the strategic orientation of the CVC policy, forcing the company to appropriately govern and manage the starting nature and/or the variable nature of the CVC (ambidextrous, hybrid, dis-ambidextrous or random).

The current research has used only secondary data to explore the behavior of only 18 CVCs in a relatively short period. Thus, it would be advisable to extend the number of observations, to enlarge the period under investigation, and to retrieve field data to obtain more detailed and reliable results.

The main objective/contribution of this study is to understand if there is a correlation between the Financing Round (as the independent variable) and the Entrepreneurial Intensity (as the dependent variable) for the 18 most active CVCs in the world, according to CB Insights, in 2015–2017, adopting and further confirming the model by Rossi et al. (2019). The statistical investigation, based on the conclusions of that linear regression model, has highlighted a total or large correlation between these two variables for the current research perimeter, which includes CVC companies with technology as the core business of the corporation.