Strategic Renewal from Low-end to High-end: A Case Study Based on the Perspectives of Punctuated Equilibrium and Organization Ambidexterity

Abstract

Abstract:

In the context of technological transition, it is difficult for incumbents to complete strategic renewal due to organizational rigidities. To reveal how incumbents can achieve strategic renewal under the context of technological transition, this paper integrates the theory of cross-functional ambidexterity and punctuated equilibrium, and conducts a single case study on the evolutionary journey of Huawei Mobile's strategic renewal from a low-end to a high-end product. It is found that incumbents can form different cross-functional ambidexterity to support different stages of strategy based on different combinations of exploration and exploitation activities across the product and market domains in the old equilibrium period, the revolutionary period and the new equilibrium period. At the same time, leadership plays an important role in strategic renewal, and different types of complementary assets drive the evolution of different forms of cross-functional ambidexterity. The research conclusions enrich relevant theories of strategic renewal and ambidexterity, and provide practical enlightenment for the strategic renewal of large enterprises in the context of technological transition.

Key words: cross-functional ambidexterity, punctuated equilibrium, strategic renewal, leadership, complementary asset

Yan Mengling, Dong Xiaoying, Hu Yanni. Strategic Renewal from Low-end to High-end: A Case Study Based on the Perspectives of Punctuated Equilibrium and Organization Ambidexterity[J]. , 2020, 32(4): 310-324.

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