Ambidexterity in Family Business Groups

This chapter introduces an organizational ambidexterity (OA) perspective to explain the development and long-term survivability of family business groups (FGBs). Combining insights from macro and micro perspectives of OA and family business studies, we develop the ‘FBG Ambidexterity Framework,’ which identifies the family conditions that shape the individual and organizational drivers needed to ensure the formation and consolidation of an ambidextrous FBG. The framework aspires to signal core family attributes such as transgenerational intentions, as well as family identity and values as pivotal drivers that augment the ambidextrous capabilities of FBGs. We exemplify our framework through an illustrative case about the formation and consolidation of an ambidextrous Mexican FBG.