TITLE PAGE

UTILZING PROJECT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES TO ACHIEVE

AMBIDEXTERITY IN THE COMMERCIAL BANKING SECTOR

STUDENT NAME:

AZIM MOHAMMED

STUDENT ID:
1722448

UNIT TITLE:
THEORY INTO PRACTICE

UNIT CODE:
BSS056-6

UNIT COORDINATOR
PAULINE LOEWENBERGER
 1.1 RATIONALE

The volatile and dynamic business environment calls for organisations to adapt flexible
organisational structures which will make firms more sustainable and competitive long term.
This backed by technological advancements will further keep organisations abreast with the
dynamic environment.

The commercial banking sector undergoes frequent and dramatic change that can have
disastrous effects if not managed effectively. These organizations are facing challenges in
coping with the multitude of changes that occur due to the dynamism of the business
environment. These challenges can arise from leadership, management or operational issues,
or a combination of the three. An organization’s success is dependent on its ability to utilise
exploitative and explorative activities of its current capabilities and new competencies. In this
regard, many organizations are charged with the task of being innovative and creative to
survive amidst intense competition. Project management practices provides rigid
methodologies for organizations to apply in order to successfully complete projects and
effectively fulfil all tasks.

1.2 RESEARCH AIMS

The aim of this research is to understand how ambidexterity can be achieved within the
commercial banking sector through utilising Project management methods.

1.3 OBJECTIVES

Based on the research aim, the project objectives are:

• Examine the theory of ambidexterity and its characteristics;

• Explore the theoretical framework for structural and contextual ambidexterity;
• Analyse Project management methods and their ability to achieve ambidexterity in the
commercial banking sector;
1.4 SCOPE

This research on utilising project management methodologies to achieve ambidexterity in the

commercial banking sector targets project managers, bank managers, bank executives and
other persons interested in being leaders within the commercial banking sector.

In the proposed study I will examine the utilisation of project management

methodologies to achieve ambidexterity in the commercial banking sector within the
Caribbean region. The commercial banking sector identified as the Credit Union movement
will also be included in the Study.

The research report only covers the market for the financial industry specifically the
commercial banking sector.

1.5 INFLUENTIAL FRAMEWORKS

This research integrates knowledge from two academic areas; leadership and project
management. Under leadership emerged the topic of ambidexterity. Tushman and O’Reilly
(2011), defined organizational ambidexterity as ‘the ability to simultaneously pursue both
incremental and discontinuous innovation from hosting multiple contradictory structures,
processes and cultures within the same firm’ and this practice was required for an
organization’s long-term survival.

This construct’s foundation was influenced by the study of organizations. Consequently,

different organizational structures are affected by different environmental conditions and
employ different strategies. Organizations operating in stable environments have well defined
responsibilities, job specifications and hierarchical relations while organizations operating in
unstable environments are less reliant on formalization (Burns and Stalker, 1991).
Organizational adaptation argues that firms need to change structural procedures in order to
achieve long term success amid environmental and technological changes.

On the other hand, project management is the application of methodologies used to manage
resources toward accomplishing a desired result within the constraints of cost, quality and time
(Sheffield, Sankaran and Haslett, 2012; Reddy P, 2015). Project management is a phenomenon
which is evolving with technological advancements ( Czuchry and Yasin, 2003) . The current
business environment is unstable so organizations should employ project management
methodologies to achieve ambidexterity which will in turn lead to long-term organizational
success.

1.6 METHODS OF ANALYSIS

In order to accomplish this research’s objectives, ambidexterity as well as project
management methodologies are analysed systematically to fully understand their
definitions, conditions, prerequisites and the implementation as well as limitations. This
research further emphasizes the utilizing of project management methods as a
benchmark for establishing ambidexterity within commercial banking organizations,
and this concept may unite diverging systems, units or capabilities in addition to
organizational concerns.

1.7 EVIDENCE

Many modern organizations employ project management methodologies (PMM) to

manage and successfully complete projects. PMM are rigid and can create difficulties for
organizations operating in dynamic environments. This rigidity impedes an organization’s
ability to operate in a dynamic environment however, it can also enhance an organizations
ability to achieve ambidexterity. Through the discipline of PM, the project’s success can be
understood and therefore improved ( Rolstadas et al, 2014). In this regard, this research paper
focuses on organizations within the commercial banking sector and recommends that adapting
PPM can achieve organizational ambidexterity. Using PMM to achieve ambidexterity in the
commercial banking sector draws from two areas of knowledge ; project management and
leadership. In this regard, an ambidextrous organization can simultaneously perform two
divergent functions efficiently (Gibson & Birkinshaw, 2004) while PMM allocate the adequate
and appropriate resources necessary to complete the various stages of the projects (Levine,
2005). Consequently, the most priority is given to resources allocation and selection in order
to maintain the organizations’ current position. This illustrates project management’s
interaction with operations which mainly comprises of project resource allocation, and this
determines the ability for an organization to pursue new investments while still performing its
usual operations. Therefore, it is reasonable to infer that the effectiveness of PMM and its
application influences organizational ambidexterity. (Patanakul et al, 2013). O’Reilly and
Tushman (2008) raised numerous concerns about inadequate mechanisms to achieve
ambidexterity in project- based environments however Turner et al (2013) purported exploiting
intellectual capital to further achieve ambidexterity within organizations.
Organizations with dynamic capabilities are ambidextrous in nature because they are
better prepared to deal with new market challenges and changes. In fact, these organizations
are adaptive at managing themselves through different market conditions. March’s (1991)
study addresses the need for organizations to simultaneously exploit and explore external
environment issues. Furthermore, March’s (1991) research performed numerous studies on the
characteristics of ambidextrous organizations based on performance, characteristics, outputs
and inputs.
Achieving ambidexterity requires organizations to be flexible and sustainable as this is not a
straightforward or simple task. Many organizations utilize two main methods to achieve
ambidexterity; structural and contextual ( Im and Rai, 2014). Andriopoulos and Lewis (2009)
highlighted that by using the contextual mechanism and combining approaches, individuals are
able to both explore and exploit simultaneously and gain great advantage. However, this
research provides further literature on other methods of achieving ambidexterity within
organizations. The abovementioned methods incorporate ambidexterity within the organization
and may also create the desired organizational performance which is anticipated through
ambidexterity.
.
References
Andriopoulos, C. & Lewis, M., 2009. Exploitation-exploration tensions and organizational
ambidexterity: managing paradoxes of innovation. Organization Science, 20(4), pp. 696-717.

A, R., I, T., P, S. & G, B., 2014. Understanding project success through analysis of project
management approach. International Journal of managing projects in business, 7(4), pp. 638-660.

Aronson, Z. H., Shebhar, A. J. & Patanakul, P., 2013. Managing the intangible aspects of a a project
the affect if vision, artifacts, and leader values in project spirit and success in technology driven
project. Project management journal, 44(1), pp. 35-58.

Birkinshaw, j. & Gibson, C., 2004. Building Ambidexterity into an organization. MIT Sloan
management review, Issue summer 2004.

Caniels, M. C., Neghina, C. & Schaetsaert, N., 2017. Ambidexterity of employees;the role of
empowerment and knowledge sharing. Journal of Knowledge Management, 21(5), pp. 1142-1162.

Czuchry, A. J. & Mahmoud M. Yasin, 2003. Managing the project management process. Industrial
Management & Data Systems, 103(1), pp. 39-46.

Czuchry, A. J. & Yasin, M. M., 2003. Managing the project management process. Industrial
management and data systems, 103(1), pp. 39-46.

He, Z.-L. & Wong, P.-K., 2004. Exploration vs Exploitation: An Empirical Test of the Ambidexterity
Hypothesis. Organization Science, 15(4), pp. 481-494.

Im, G. & Rai, A., 2014. IT-enabled coordination for ambidextrous interorganizational relationships.
Information systems research, 25(1), pp. 72-92.

O’Reilly III, C. A. & Tushman, M. L., 2013. Organizational Ambidexterity: Past, Present and Future.
Academy of Management Perspectives .

Raisch, S. & Birkinshaw, J., 2008. Organizational Ambidexterity: Antecedents, Outcomes, and
Moderators. Journal of Management, Volume March 2008.

Raisch, S. & Birkinshaw, J., 2008. Organizational Ambidexterity:Antecedents, Outcomes, and

Moderators. Jounal of Management , 34(3), pp. 375-409.

Schein, E. H., 2004. Organizational Culture and Leadership. 3rd Edition ed. San Francisco: Jossey-
Bass.

Sheffield, J., Sankaran, S. & Haslett, T., 2012. Systems thinking; taming complexity in project
management. On the horizon, 20(2), pp. 126-136.

Turner, N., Swart, J. & Maylor, H., 2013. Mechanisms for managing ambidexterity: A review and
research agenda.. International Journal of Management Reviews, 15(3), pp. 317-332.