Abstract:
Employee ambidexterity directly links with organizations’ survival in
today's dynamic business environment. Ambidextrous employees are
passionate about their work, perform better and increase the productivity
of their organizations. Literature on the ambidextrous behaviour of
employees specifically emphasizes that employees are encouraged to use
both exploratory and exploitative behaviours in their daily job to attain
higher levels of performance. Even though, management continuously takes
actions to encourage the ambidextrous behaviour of employees, the lack of
ambidextrous behaviour has become one of the critical aspects which
require attention. Hence, the current study aims to examine the impact of
the culture of employee empowerment on employee ambidexterity and the
mediating effect of intrinsic motivation based on the insights obtained
through the Self-Determination theory. Data were gathered through a
survey, from a sample of 169 Information Technology (IT) professionals
from three IT companies in the Colombo district. Simple regression and
mediator analysis were applied using SPSS Hayes Process in analyzing data
to identify the impacts and mediating effect between variables. Findings
revealed a positive impact of the culture of employee empowerment on
employee ambidexterity which is partially mediated by intrinsic
motivation. Hence, empowering atmosphere not only directly increased
employee ambidextrous behaviour but also enhanced employee intrinsic
motivation, which caused ambidexterity.
