Intellectual capital, competitive advantage and the ambidexterity liaison

In today's uncertain and ambiguous business reality, both business enterprises and other societal human organizations strive for competitive advantage. To attain it, they develop the capability to pursue innovation, while exploiting other existing capabilities pertinent to their organizational 'ambidexterity'. This article investigates the role that organizational ambidexterity plays in the relation between intellectual capital (IC) and competitive advantage (CA). Tested is a set of research hypotheses, using sample data gleaned from 233 textile firms in Pakistan. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) unconceals a significant mediately effect that organizational ambidexterity interposes between intellectual capital and competitive advantage, i.e., IC helps firms become ambidextrous in attaining competitiveness. Noted too are the significant effects of all three IC components on competitive advantage, whereby the highest effect is attributed to human-development capital (HDC), followed by structural capital (SC) and relational capital (RC). These results contribute to much-needed comprehensive-strategy designs that, based on both intellectual capital and ambidexterity, yield a sustainable competitive advantage. Despite the study's limitations and small sample size, the article offers both future-research directions and policymaking recommendations.