Organisational ambidexterity research has focussed on large firms. It has resulted in a call for longitudinal studies into how smaller owner managed businesses balance exploration and exploitation. They have different characteristics such as resource availability with nebulous strategic orientation and informal organisation structures. Empirical research has tended to examine specific categories and frameworks in isolation leaving a paucity of holistic dynamic analysis struggling to link theoretical to practical implementation with measurable real time analysis.

This thesis fills this research gap with a real time case study supported by independent interviews creating A practical pathway from pre commencement understanding to initiation conceptualisation to implementation able to be tailored to provide a bespoke solution. In doing so it observes a companywide transition to ambidexterity over a three year time horizon experiencing as it occurs the impact of turbulence and complexity able to examine the practical solutions implemented.

This is achieved by having the rare opportunity of the researcher also operational embedded designing, in advance, the controlled action research interventions to theoretical frameworks. This enables real time analysis of findings over a three year time horizon, this contrasting the usual case study approach of observing past events. The resultant contribution is an ambidexterity template designed produced a bespoke solution to show how to transition to an ambidextrous organisation.