Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how organizations manage and integrate exploration and exploitation across the innovation project portfolio. Such ambidextrous capabilities are required for organizations to innovate and succeed in today's rapidly changing competitive environment. Understanding how exploration and exploitation projects are integrated can illustrate ways to enhance ambidexterity and boost learning for the benefit of both approaches.

Design/methodology/approach

A multiple-case study approach was used to explore innovation portfolio management in six large organizations that emphasize innovation in their strategies.

Findings

The findings draw upon concepts of paradox and contingency to reveal that the inherent tension between formality and flexibility in managing innovation project portfolios is aligned with the need for organizational ambidexterity that maintains effective exploitative innovation while supporting explorative innovation capabilities. Four integration mechanisms are identified that enhance ambidexterity across the innovation portfolio by embedding processes for transition from exploration to exploitation and cross-fertilizing knowledge to build innovation capability across both exploration and exploitation.

Practical implications

Managers may find inspiration on ways to enhance learning by bridging exploration and exploitation projects from the four types of integration mechanisms. Recognizing the paradoxical nature of the tension between formality and flexibility in project and portfolio management may also help guide organizations to effectively develop ambidextrous approaches to enhance overall innovation outcomes.

Originality/value

In contrast to perspectives which suggest that paradox and contingency approaches represent disparate perspectives, the authors demonstrate how they can complement each other and work together through innovation portfolio management to support ambidexterity at the portfolio and project levels.

中文翻译：

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拥抱悖论和偶然性：双元创新组合管理的整合机制

目的

本文的目的是探讨组织如何管理和整合整个创新项目组合的探索和利用。组织需要这种灵巧的能力才能在当今快速变化的竞争环境中进行创新并取得成功。了解勘探和开采项目如何整合可以说明增强双元性和促进学习的方法，从而使这两种方法受益。

设计/方法论/途径

采用多案例研究方法来探索六个强调战略创新的大型组织的创新组合管理。

发现

研究结果利用悖论和偶然性的概念揭示了管理创新项目组合的形式性和灵活性之间的内在张力与组织二元性的需求是一致的，组织二元性需要保持有效的利用性创新，同时支持探索性创新能力。确定了四种整合机制，通过嵌入从探索到开发的过渡过程以及交叉施肥知识来增强整个创新组合的双元性，以建立跨勘探和开发的创新能力。

实际影响

管理者可以从四种类型的整合机制中寻找通过连接探索和开发项目来加强学习的灵感。认识到项目和项目组合管理中形式与灵活性之间的矛盾性质也可能有助于指导组织有效地开发灵巧的方法来提高整体创新成果。

原创性/价值

与认为悖论和应急方法代表不同观点的观点相反，作者展示了它们如何相互补充并通过创新组合管理共同工作，以支持组合和项目层面的二元性。