An Empirical Investigation of the Antecedents and Consequences of Integration Team Ambidexterity in Multiteam Systems-Based Projects

Firms are increasingly launching large-scale complex projects with the work form of multiteam systems (MTSs) (MTSs-based projects), which requires the management team to be ambidextrous—aligned efficiently with existing demands, whilst being adaptive to the changing environment. However, limited studies have focused on the development of ambidexterity as well as its influences on the success in MTSs-based projects. To address this research gap, this study investigates the antecedents and consequences of ambidexterity of integration teams in MTSs-based projects, using a sequential mixed-method design. A qualitative study via interviews with industrial experts first identified four crucial antecedents of integration team ambidexterity, i.e., shared cognition, information exchange, monitoring, and mutual support. Then, leveraging an emergent team phenomena perspective, we developed a research model and proposed relevant hypotheses. A quantitative study, using multiwave and multisource data collected from 178 MTSs-based enterprise systems implementation projects, was adopted to validate our proposed model. The findings reveal the distinct effects of the four antecedents on integration team alignment and adaptation. In addition, both integration team alignment and adaptation positively influence MTSs-based project effectiveness, while only integration team adaptation facilitates the project team to deal with a high level of requirements instability.