Marriott International – An ambidextrous

organization
Introduction:
In this day and age, organizations are profusely dependent on being able to effectively optimize
their processes and efficiently use their resources, yet at the same time, they also have to rely on
innovative solutions and be futuristic in their practices. The adoption of this, rather contradictory,
style of management is called ambidextrous organizational setup (A. Dover & Dierk, 2010). It
focuses on a balance where companies have to be able to cut down their operational costs,
organize their staffing structure etc and be sharp enough to adapt to changing consumer needs or
their product value. This entails that organizations have to keep both long term and short term
goals in hindsight in order for them to be successful in the market (A. O Rilley & L. Tushman,
2004).
Characteristics of Ambidextrous organizations:
(A. O Rilley & L. Tushman, 2004) suggested that organizations need to establish separate
structures for the two diversions; the major units of an organization be tasked with day to day
optimal operations, and a separate Research and Development (R&D) department to be assigned
for notifying emerging trends and developing innovative technologies. This approach is called
structural ambidexterity (Birkinshaw & Gibson, 2004). But according to the modern concepts, on
a micro level, employees should be given the mandate and freedom to be able to decide whether
they want to work in routine operational level, or in the R&D. They should be able to divide their
time accordingly. This is called contextual ambidexterity (Lerner, 2020).
Ambidextrous employees take proactive approach and are aware of opportunities outside the
scope of their current position. They are cooperative and looking for ways to synergize their
work with the efforts of others around them. They are constantly trying to internal connections
across the organizations employees. Moreover, they are very good at multi-tasking (Birkinshaw
& Gibson, 2004).
The biggest hurdle in achieving any type of ambidexterity in organizations is organizational
rigidity (Hoelzle & Gemuenden, 2008). In efforts to find a fine balance between innovation and
efficiency, one of these usually gets to be compromised since both short and long term vision of
the organization does not coincide; short term survival and long term growth is a paradoxical
concept (Jozefowicz & Lis, 2018). Innovation requires a lot investment of resources, such as
time and cost, whilst repertoire of the employees does not allow it.
Marriott International and its Ambidexterity:
Marriott International is one of the world’s biggest hotel company in the world. It has operational
branches all over the world. Marriott International closely follows a bureaucratic formalization,
meaning that rules and regulations are thoroughly adhered to. It also means that job descriptions
are closely defined with little or no room for flexibility allowance. Not allowing the workforce
freedom of contextual ambidexterity dictates that this type of structure of organization is unable
to meet change of demand by customers. This marks a negative point for Marriot International’s
ambidexterity. The company also focuses on workforce specialization. Each department is
divided and works independently of each other, making it easier to manage clearly distinctive
styles of operations with clarity of hierarchy. The company’s commands come from a central
head office in Hong Kong. This means that there is little opportunity for employees for flexibility
in their responsibility. However, Marriott has tried to prevent it from having a decentralized
chain of command, meaning that local franchises have some degree of license to innovate their
own themes into the Hotel settings. Marriott International also conducts trainee programs at all
locations in order to enhance and uplift specialized skills of their workforce (Williams, 2014).
Marriot International has a clearly defined goal. It wants to make sure that their customers leave
the Hotel with full satisfaction. In order to keep up with the diverse market demands, Marriott
needs to make sure it is fully aware of the customer’s demands. Furthermore, Marriott faces a
fierce competition from its rivals such as Hyatt and Hilton (W. Scholl & L. Beauvis, 2001).
Therefore, product differentiation can only be effectively achieved if imaginative solutions are
brought about to customer’s demands. Out of the box Hotel designs, such as the ones in the
Middle East, falls directly in line of structural ambidexterity.
Conclusion:
Marriott International, as a leading organization, realizes the significance of having flexibility of
its workforce in a dynamic market of today. That is why it focuses on keeping customer
satisfaction as its utmost priority. To achieve that goal, it has modified itself to adapt to the new
concepts of ambidexterity to compete against other organizations.

References
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Birkinshaw, J. & Gibson, C., 2004. BUILDING AN AMBIDEXTROUS ORGANIZATION.
Centre of Effective Organization, pp. 4-15.
Hoelzle, K. & Gemuenden, H., 2008. THE AMBIDEXTROUS ORGANIZATION IN
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Jozefowicz, B. & Lis, A., 2018. THE CONCEPT OF THE AMBIDEXTROUS
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