ORGANIZATIONAL AMBIDEXTERITY AND PERFORMANCE OF LARGE MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN KENYA

Abstract

The research objective was to establish the influence of organizational ambidexterity
on the Kenyan large manufacturing firms’ performance. The studies linking
ambidexterity to organizational performance are scanty and with mixed findings.
The few studies that have been done indicate that there is no clear ambidexterity -
organizational performance relationship. The research was founded on dynamic
capabilities theory. On the basis of reviewed literature, a conceptual model and
hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Positivism provided philosophical
foundation. The population was the entire 107 Kenyan large manufacturing firms,
therefore a census. Cross-sectional research survey design was used. Primary data
was collected using a structured questionnaire. The respondents were the senior
managers of the large manufacturing firms in Kenya; namely either Chief Executive
Officers/Managing Directors (CEOs/MDs) or General Managers (GMs), or Heads of
departments (HODs). The hypothesis that Organizational ambidexterity has no
significant influence on the performance of large manufacturing firms in Kenya was
tested using simple linear regression analysis. The results showed positive and
statistically significant influence of organizational ambidexterity on the performance
of Kenyan large manufacturing firms.