Dynamic capabilities and innovation ambidexterity: The roles of intellectual capital and innovation orientation

Previous research has highlighted the importance of firms engaging in innovation ambidexterity through balancing exploiting existing offerings with exploring new opportunities. However, not all firms are equally capable of doing so. To improve our understanding of how firms can better achieve such innovation ambidexterity, we develop a framework investigating the joint effects of intellectual capital, dynamic capabilities, and innovation orientation on innovation ambidexterity. We empirically assess this framework using time-lagged, multi-source data from the pharmaceutical industry. The results suggest that intellectual capital positively relates to innovation ambidexterity through dynamic capabilities. We further find that firms with an innovation orientation are more likely to leverage dynamic capabilities to drive innovation ambidexterity. This study contributes to literature on intellectual capital and innovation ambidexterity, and offers managers insights on how to align their knowledge practices to develop dynamic capabilities when pursuing innovation ambidexterity.