The Microfoundations of Ambidexterity: Behaviours and Competencies of Modest Fashion Entrepreneurs in Turkey

Research on ambidexterity represents a major effort to address the management of paradoxical tensions. In this study we examine how personal characteristics and immediate work contexts of individual managers/entrepreneurs in the modest fashion industry in Turkey drive and shape the relationship between their ambidextrous behaviours and performance. To gain more holistic insights into tensions in the modest fashion ecosystem and its distinctive dynamics, we study 18 leading fashion entrepreneurs in this industry, with 16 of those being female, who are active in different fields from fashion design to founding modest fashion magazines, and from organising modest fashion events to fashion blogging. We consider the duality leading to ambidexterity in the modest fashion industry to be twofold: firstly between artistic expression and commercial business realities and secondly between conservation on the one hand and innovation/creativity on the other hand. Our objective is to develop a better understanding of how leadership in women entrepreneurs and ambidexterity are connected. We also seek to investigate whether multitasking behaviours are conducive or detrimental to helping entrepreneurs in switching between exploration and exploitation activities. We find that education and leadership qualities help these fashion entrepreneurs develop an entrepreneurial vision and that this vision creates the possibility to balance exploration and exploitation.