Managing Uncertainty with Ambidexterity

Abstract

Abstract Uncertainty exogenous to organizations is pervasive, and yet espoused to have a negative impact on employee well-being. This chapter explores whether organizational ambidexterity might help mitigate the influence of exogenous uncertainty on employee well-being. Specifically, the job demands-resources theory is utilized to unpack how ambidexterity may be viewed as a “resource” to mitigate and/or potentially even a “demand” that exacerbates the negative impact of exogenous uncertainty on employee well-being. These rival hypotheses are explored in a field study (N = 540), and then an experiment (N = 160). The consistent finding was that exogenous uncertainty was experienced as a demand that exacerbates the negative effect of uncertainty on well-being. Thus it is revealed that organizational ambidexterity has the unanticipated consequence of amplifying a negative relationship between exogenous uncertainty and employee well-being, adding to the burden employees feel in coping with the unknown. Implications for managing exogenous uncertainty for employees’ well-being are unpacked, and future research is advocated. This ranges from organizational-level strategies with how organizational systems are embedded, at the individual level with employees’ taking agency, and taking into account the individual differences that predispose individuals to react differently.