Background & Purpose: Achieving a simultaneous balance between exploitation and exploration is a prerequisite for the long-term sustainability and effectiveness of organizations. However, how ambidexterity can be realized within hierarchical cultures remains theoretically underexplored. The objective of this study is to explain and design a model of ambidextrous hierarchical organizational culture in public organizations, with a focus on the transition from control to learning through the integration of Cameron and Quinn’s Competing Values Framework and Schein’s three-level model of organizational culture.
Methodology: In terms of purpose, this study is classified as applied research, and with respect to the data collection approach, it adopts a qualitative methodology. The study population consists of academic and executive experts familiar with the fields of organizational behavior management and organizational culture. A purposive sampling strategy was employed, and after reaching theoretical saturation, the number of participants was limited to 15. Research data were collected in the field through semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.
Findings: Based on the data analysis, the level of basic underlying assumptions of ambidextrous culture within a hierarchical culture comprises three overarching themes: dynamic balance between control and learning (belief in the interconnection between order and innovation, and the use of control as a means of empowerment), empowering rather than constraining power (authority as a framework for collective decision-making and the manager as a coach), and stability in the service of transformation (change within safe boundaries and institutionalization of innovation within formal structures). At the level of espoused values, ambidextrous hierarchical culture includes three overarching themes: innovation-based efficiency (systematizing innovation, evidence-based learning-oriented decision-making, and managing service quality and costs through innovation), creative discipline (formal frameworks for creative thinking and institutionalizing continuous improvement within discipline), and systematic innovation (transparency in innovation structures and processes and the institutionalization of systematic innovation). At the level of artifacts and symbols, ambidextrous hierarchical culture is characterized by three overarching themes: formal learning-oriented structures (inter-unit teams within the formal structure and dual performance evaluation systems), disciplinary–creative rituals (process improvement festivals and documentation of innovative achievements), and a hybrid organizational language (the promotion of simultaneous efficiency- and learning-oriented terminology and storytelling of hybrid successes).
Conclusion: The final model of the study indicates that through the deliberate design of cultural layers, public organizations can simultaneously preserve coherence, accountability, and efficiency, while sustainably institutionalizing continuous learning, systematic innovation, and gradual transformation within their formal structures.