Highlights
Abstract
Keywords
1. Introduction
2. Literature review and hypotheses
3. Research method
4. Analysis and results
5. Discussion and conclusions
Funding details
Declaration of Competing Interest
Appendix A. Direct effects
References
Abstract
This study analyzes the influence of quality management practices on organizational ambidexterity and on performance, and the mediating role of ambidexterity in the relationship between quality management practices and performance in the hotel industry. The paper uses Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis based on data from 365 Spanish hotels. The results show that quality management practices favor the development of organizational ambidexterity, that is, they help balance exploitation and exploration activities, and this contributes to improving hotel performance. Moreover, ambidexterity acts as a partial mediator between quality management practices and hotel performance. These findings imply that quality management practices can create an appropriate organizational context to simultaneously develop both service improvements (exploitative innovations) and service innovations (explorative innovations). This paper contributes to theory by developing new knowledge regarding quality management as a facilitator of ambidexterity, and the mediating role of ambidexterity in the relationship between quality management and hotel performance.
1. Introduction
Organizational ambidexterity refers to a firm’s ability to develop both the exploration of new possibilities and the exploitation of old certainties (March, 1991). Exploitation of current resources and capabilities is needed to increase competitiveness in the current market, whereas exploration prepares for dealing with future needs (Asif and De Vries, 2015). Both activities are essential for organizations to achieve long-term performance (Tushman and O’Reilly, 1996). Nevertheless, the literature on organizational ambidexterity points out that the activities of exploration and exploitation compete for scarce resources and create paradoxical challenges, because they require substantially different structures, processes, strategies, capabilities, and cultures (Backström, 2017; He and Wong, 2004). Consequently, it could be difficult for organizations to reach a high degree of exploration and exploitation simultaneously (Asif and De Vries, 2015).