The linkage between human resource practices and organizational ambidexterity: An analysis of internal labor market dynamics in a port-of-entry context

This paper presents our findings from an empirical survey of 580 individuals placed by a German temporary work agency. The study aims to examine the linkages between human resource management practices and ambidexterity with regard to the integration of an external, highly qualified workforce into the firm. We focus on aspects of the internal labor market (ILM) and its relationship to concurrent firm exploration and exploitation. We argue that a dynamic ILM contributes to a firm’s capability for ambidexterity. Based on differences in the access to promotional opportunities of the ILM between temporary and permanent workers, we expect this contribution to be different for these groups of employees. We argue that whereas permanent employees receive job satisfaction from the opportunities of a dynamic ILM, temporary employees lack access to this source of job satisfaction and therefore do not contribute equally to organizational outcomes. Results of our study are intriguing since they do not support arguments on expected differences between these two types of workforce. Rather, findings confirm the importance of a dynamic ILM not only for permanent but also for temporary employees.