Ambidexterity: An Intervening Mechanism in the Dynamic Capabilities-Sustainable Competitive Advantage Nexus

Abstract

Although the concern about how organizations endure in the extant dynamic environment has attracted a myriad of research efforts, the most crucial concern is how do organizations learn and adapt, requiring empirical evidences. Therefore, this study aims to investigate firm-level ambidexterity as an intervening mechanism in the dynamic capabilities’ connection with organizational sustainable competitive advantage in Qatar banking sector. Data, which were elicited from the branch managers, operation managers, and quality managers of the 16 selected banks in Qatar through questionnaires, were analyzed using Smart PLS-SEM’s approach in testing measurement and structural model. The overall results indicatethat firm-level ambidexteritypartially mediates the dynamic capabilities’ connection with sustainable competitive advantage. This implies that firm-level ambidexterity is a strong and significant mechanism through which the positive effect the dynamic capabilities has on sustainable competitive advantage can be enhanced. Lastly, the implications for theory and practice and suggestions for future studies were discussed.