The spin-along approach : ambidextrous corporate venturing management

The spin-along approach is a combination of internal and external corporate venturing elements and its goal is to support corporations' innovative performance. We argue that corporations can successfully implement spin-along approaches in their organisation by means of ambidextrous corporate venturing. The results from four case studies reveal that corporations must apply complementary ambidexterity's antecedents to use spin-along as a deliberate exploring and exploiting tool to achieve higher innovative performance. Managing spin-alongs requires a coordinating and moderating management layer between the parent firm and the spin-alongs; this layer requires entrepreneurial as well as ambidextrous skills. Propositions are developed on the basis of the case study results, and are illustrated in a conceptual framework.