Realizing combination of exploration and exploitation capabilities by designing Marketing and Sales Relationship

In the strategy literature, the combination of the dual capabilities of exploration and exploitation is called "organizational ambidexterity". Organizations in one hand should maximize utilization of current resources, and in other hand, they should enter new sphere to adapt themselves with environmental changes. In this research, we study how to realize ambidexterity by designing appropriate relationships between marketing and sales departments. Despite similarities in working areas, there are structural differences between sales and marketing departments. Previous studies indicate that the proper alignment between the two departments is a critical challenge for many organizations. Based on a multiple case study method, and a qualitative approach in data analysis, we studied five FMCG companies in Iran. Research output is a new theoretical framework for explaining the mechanisms and consequences of configuration of sales and marketing departments. The results show that appropriate configuration of the relationship between sales and marketing departments not only can solve existing challenges but also by using integration mechanism and structural differences between two departments can pave the way for realizing organizational ambidexterity. Mutual support between sales and marketing is an important factor in the realization of organizational ambidexterity.