CORPORATE VENTURE CAPITALISTS’ AMBIDEXTERITY: MYTH OR TRUTH?

A growing number of studies highlight how organizational ambidexterity is vital for business competitive advantage. Although the number of studies on ambidexterity has substantially expanded in the past few years, the results have often been disappointing, particularly for focalized segments of organizations. Starting from these considerations, this study analyzes Corporate Venture Capitalists’ (CVCs) activities. Even though the most important research on the ambidexterity of CVCs was conducted by Hill and Birkinshaw (2014), the ambidexterity of CVCs has so far been studied very little. Starting from an analysis of quantitative data, at both the descriptive and inferential levels, this research aims at building a conceptual contextualization to understand how CVCs can be considered with regard to ambidexterity (ambidextrous, hybrid, or dis-ambidextrous, as proposed in this study) and how they can manifest this capability.