The nature of market orientation and the ambidexterity of innovations

Purpose This study aims to consider that a proactive‐ and responsive‐market orientated firm is able to align with the development of radical (exploratory) innovations as well as incremental (exploitative) innovations to realize its organizational ambidexterity. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a questionnaire survey/analysis of a sample of 227 high‐technology firms in Taiwan. Findings The research findings reveal that both types of market orientation provide different managerial efforts to develop and foster different types of innovation competencies; and then, those effects would be moderated through external and organizational factors. Practical implications Through the deployment of ambidextrous structures, managers could effectively arrange the portfolio of product‐markets with an array of proactive‐ and responsive‐ market orientation to align the potential conflicts concerning the exploration and the exploitation. Originality/value This study is a pioneer in the field that reveals how a proactive‐ and responsive‐ market orientated firm could systematically operate to accomplish its ambidexterity of innovations.