Public Managers’ Exploration and Exploitation Activities: The Role of Gender Diversity in TMTs

Ambidexterity is attracting increasing attention in the public sector but research on individual ambidexterity especially key decision makers’ ambidexterity remains limited. This study explores whether top management team (TMT) gender diversity affects the ambidextrous orientation in the upper echelons. Using data from 67 Danish municipalities, we found that TMT gender diversity is positively related to top managers’ ambidextrous orientation, especially in their exploitation but not explorative tendencies. We further suggest that this relationship is contingent on top managers’ external experiences and show nuances in different types of external experiences. Implications for research on individual ambidexterity and TMT diversity are discussed.