Constructing an Explorative Approach for a New Reality: Ambidexterity in a Real Estate Context - A qualitative study at Castellum
Abstract
The real estate industry in Sweden has historically performed well with similar actors and
behaviours on the market. This has resulted in a slack change of adapting the industry to the
society’s new trends and behaviours, e.g. digitalization and services, compared to other
industries, because of that there have not been any real incitements for it. Instead of trying to
adopt themselves gradually from how the industry changes, there is an opportunity to
proactively changing the business model and survive. Therefore, there are benefits for a firm
of taking the lead before the industry changes of new actors entering the industry. This thesis
is based on a case study at Castellum, a Swedish real estate company with focus on the Nordic
market that has since 2017 run an innovation lab with the aim to pursue technology-based
business development and to adapt service offerings around their business in accordance to
changing conditions. We ask how does an established real estate company attempt to become
an ambidextrous organization, i.e. how does it attempt to balance exploration and exploitation.
We show that becoming an ambidextrous organization (with a clearer emphasis on exploration than before) could be central for gaining legitimacy. This can open up for new partnerships, benefit shareholders and customers, as well as attract and retain employees. Although hinted at in existing research into ambidextrous organization, we argue that legitimacy should be
given a more prominent role in discussions of why firms attempt to become ambidextrous and
the consequences of such attempts.
Degree
Master 2-years
Other description
MSc in Management
Collections
View/ Open
Date
2020-06-22Author
Fransson, Ida
Rosman, Joel
Keywords
Exploration
Exploitation
Ambidexterity
Legitimacy
Established firms
Real estate industry
Series/Report no.
Master Degree Project
2020:110
Language
eng