Network ambidexterity and environmental performance: Code-sharing in the airline industry

Abstract

The most common form of horizontal collaboration within the airline industry is code-sharing, which provides firms with many economic and operational benefits, although what happens in the environmental area is less certain. How should companies address code-sharing to contribute to sustainability? The main objective of this work is to analyse the impact that this type of horizontal collaboration can have on the environmental performance of airlines. From this, we propose that network ambidexterity—the ability to balance exploration with new partners and exploitation with prior partners—is an adequate strategy to solve agency problems derived from collaboration practices to achieve environmental outcomes. Using hierarchical regression analysis, our results reinforce code-sharing as a critical resource for the improvement of environmental performance and identify the moderating role of network ambidexterity in the impact of alliances on environmental performance.