BUILDING IT AMBIDEXTERITY IN PARADOXICAL TIMES: THE ROLE OF IT PROJECT AMBIDEXTERITY

Abstract

IT ambidexterity, the ability to simultaneously explore and exploit IT resources, is becoming increasingly important because it influences the organizational agility and helps organizations deal with growing levels of paradoxical tensions. In response to the opportunities and threats in the digital world, firms implement IT projects that face decision paradoxes which confront aspects such as control and autonomy, stability and change, and short- and long-term view. Extant theories describe how certain IT components contribute to IT ambidexterity; however, the literature is silent on how effectively managing these paradoxes in IT projects influences IT ambidexterity. To address this gap, this paper proposes a new construct, IT project ambidexterity, the ability to ambidextrously deal with paradoxes in IT projects, evaluate its influence on IT ambidexterity with a sample of 132 Brazilian IT executives, and found a relevant effect of IT project ambidexterity on IT ambidexterity.