[In-Depth Look] Ambidextrous Management

Kim Dong-chul, Ph.D. in Engineering · Advisor at Bespin Global

In baseball, there is a term called "switch hitter." It refers to a batter who can freely switch between the left and right batting sides. A switch hitter stands on the left side of the plate if the pitcher is right-handed, and on the right side if the pitcher is left-handed, making it difficult for the pitcher. Since the pitcher cannot be replaced every time the batter changes position, the manager inevitably faces a tough dilemma.

How can the concept of being ambidextrous be expressed in business management? It means achieving both external growth and financial stability. It means executing what has been done well so far and new challenges simultaneously. It means pursuing synergy and disruptive effects at the same time. Almost all executives of successful companies possess these abilities and are warriors who have survived the competition. If you want to become a stylish professional with a great career as seen in dramas, you must become an excellent ambidextrous person.

If you want to equip yourself with offensive capabilities beyond mere survival, you must become a disruptive ambidextrous person. The way companies pursue innovation is by disruptively changing existing processes and striving for extreme efficiency. They become game changers to the extent that competitors may face difficulties in the market. Professors Charles O'Reilly of Stanford Graduate School of Business and Michael Tushman of Harvard Business School mention cases related to this in their co-authored book Lead and Disrupt (2020).

Currently, Ball Corporation, the number one can manufacturer in the United States, was a company making wooden oil storage buckets in 1880. Ball Corporation achieved successful and continuous business growth through innovative material changes. The development of an inexpensive glass bottle with a twist-off cap was the first innovation that changed the material from wood to glass. Until the 1980s, they developed lightweight aluminum cans that allowed long-term storage. Through continuous research, they have now developed eco-friendly plastic containers that reduce costs and product development time. Ball Corporation is also continuously investing in the aerospace sector through very new changes.

Until 2000, Amazon operated an online bookstore that never made a loss. It offered a more extensive selection of books than any other bookstore, purchasing books from wholesalers without holding inventory and providing them to individual customers. It operated by collecting payment from customers in advance and delaying payment to wholesalers until the end of the month. Five years later, Amazon completed its transformation from an online retailer to an online retail platform provider for other retailers. Today, Amazon has successfully transformed into the world's unbeatable number one company offering cloud services capable of running all kinds of programs, holding such an advantage that even the combined sales of all competitors cannot catch up.

Recently, companies have been activating internal ventures to create successful ambidextrous models. Internal ventures, armed with new technologies and creative ideas, operate independently from existing organizations but must also receive organic cooperation. Naver is a successful example that started as an internal venture within the Samsung Group. For such ventures to succeed, long-term milestones are more important than short-term results, and strategic support from management is necessary to establish completely different genes from the existing organization. With these ideas and execution, we look forward to many successful ventures emerging.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.