Transcending the Barriers to Ambidexterity: an Exploratory Study of Australian CIOs

This research in progress paper explores the barriers that CIOs experience in creating an IS Function which balances the competing and conflicting activities of strategic innovation (exploration) and incremental improvement (exploitation) to support the organisation in obtaining a position of sustainable competitive advantage. Drawing on the perceptions of the CIO role being complex, evolutionary, pressured and tense and incorporating the theory of Ambidexterity, we illustrate how CIOs encounter significant challenges in creating an IS Function which effectively engages in and balances strategic innovation and incremental improvement opportunities. Our analysis identified ten barriers to exploration, thirteen barriers to exploitation and two barriers which prevent CIOs from balancing exploratory and exploitative activities in the desired manner.