How can managers, acting as brokers, be ambidextrous? The effect of trust brokerage on managers’ ambidexterity

Although current research regarding social networks has devoted an increasing amount of attention to brokerage, such studies have predominately focused on the network structure with less emphasis on the content of brokerage ties, which pertain to the inherent nature of brokerage. To address this gap, this study examines a specific content of brokerage-trust brokerage, and investigates how and when managers with trust brokerage can affect their exploitation, exploration, and ambidexterity. Longitudinal data of 101 managers and 333 employees demonstrate that managers' trust brokerage is positively related to their exploitation, exploration, and ambidexterity. Managers' managerial self-efficacy partially mediates the relationship between managers' trust brokerage and managers' exploitation/ambidexterity. However, managers' managerial self-efficacy fully mediates the relationship between managers' trust brokerage and managers' exploration. Moreover, when managers’ trust network density is high, managers' trust brokerage fosters high-level managerial self-efficacy.