Managers Explore and Exploit
Organizational Ambidexterity in Action: How Managers Explore and Exploit Author(s): Charles A. O'Reilly III and Michael L. Tushman Reviewed work(s): Source: California Management Review, Vol. 53, No. 4 (Summer 2011), pp. 5-22 Published by: University of California Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/cmr.2011.53.4.5 . Accessed: 27/11/2011 04:22
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Organizational Ambidexterity in Action:
How Managers explore and exploit
Charles A. O’Reilly III Michael L. Tushman
he life span of the average American is 79. Japanese can expect to live to age 83, Liberians to only 46. The average age of a large company is much less than any of these. Research has shown that only a tiny fraction of firms founded in the U.S. are likely to make it to age 40, probably less than 0.1 percent.1 In this study, for firms founded in 1976, only 10% survived 10 years later, leading the authors to conclude that “Despite their size, their vast financial and human resources, average large firms do not ‘live’ as long as ordinary Americans.”2 While this is partly understandable because of the high mortality rates among newly founded companies, other research has estimated that even large, well-established companies can only expect to live, on average, between another 6 to 15 years.3 Ormerod, in a study of firm failure, noted that
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
University of California Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to California Management Review.
http://www.jstor.org
Organizational Ambidexterity in Action:
How Managers explore and exploit
Charles A. O’Reilly III Michael L. Tushman
he life span of the average American is 79. Japanese can expect to live to age 83, Liberians to only 46. The average age of a large company is much less than any of these. Research has shown that only a tiny fraction of firms founded in the U.S. are likely to make it to age 40, probably less than 0.1 percent.1 In this study, for firms founded in 1976, only 10% survived 10 years later, leading the authors to conclude that “Despite their size, their vast financial and human resources, average large firms do not ‘live’ as long as ordinary Americans.”2 While this is partly understandable because of the high mortality rates among newly founded companies, other research has estimated that even large, well-established companies can only expect to live, on average, between another 6 to 15 years.3 Ormerod, in a study of firm failure, noted that