The intellectual structure of organizational ambidexterity: A bibliographic investigation into the state of the art

Organizational ambidexterity, defined as the ability of a complex and adaptive system to attain and manage conflicting activities by achieving high levels of both in a simultaneous way, has gained increasing interest in recent years. The recent frenetic development of ambidexterity as well as the complexity of the questions posed, call for an analysis of the intellectual evolution of the construct. This article, after analysing the evolution of the conceptualization of organizational ambidexterity, uses bibliometric techniques to explore the structure of the field. The analysis provides a detailed overview on the current literature concerning the issue of ambidexterity, highlighting in particular the areas where research efforts have been more focused and those areas that require further study. Important issues for further research are therefore suggested.