Achieving ambidextrous learning in construction engineering project partnerships: the roles of formal control and Chinese guanxi

Ambidextrous learning plays an essential role for organizations striving to learn how to survive and compete. However, extant studies provide few ambidextrous learning strategies for construction engineering project partnerships. According to absorptive capacity theory, we argue that ambidextrous learning can be achieved by formal control (behavioral and outcome control) and social control (e.g., Chinese guanxi). Therefore, we present a conceptual model to depict the role of both control strategies in ambidextrous learning. Empirical tests based on 431 survey responses from construction engineering project managers found that: both formal control and guanxi are positively and significantly associated with ambidextrous learning; the joint effects of outcome control and guanxi have positive interaction effects on ambidextrous learning, while the joint effects of behavioral control and guanxi have negative interaction effects on ambidextrous learning. Findings contribute to extant research in ambidextrous learning and provide a basic framework to understand how an organization can survive, develop and grow through ambidextrous learning via Chinese guanxi and different formal control strategies.