Increasing organisational ambidexterity: The role of entrepreneurs’ leadership styles and individual resilience

Abstract

SMEs (small and medium enterprises) face the challenge of innovation to maintain competitiveness, balancing the exploitation of existing knowledge with the exploration of new avenues. This pursuit of organisational ambidexterity is crucial for SME survival and performance. However, limited research focuses on the antecedents of organisational ambidexterity activities, such as entrepreneurs’ behaviours and abilities. This paper integrates literature on exploration, exploitation, leadership styles, and individual resilience to understand how entrepreneurs shape organisational ambidexterity. Specifically, it explores the impact of leadership styles (i.e. transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire) on organisational ambidexterity and the moderating role of individual resilience. Through hierarchical regression analyses of 140 Italian entrepreneurs, the study finds that transformational leadership style positively influences organisational ambidexterity, and that individual resilience plays an important moderating role both in the case of transformational and transactional leadership styles. The paper emphasises the pivotal role of entrepreneurs as decision-makers in SMEs and investigates their leadership styles and resilience. Overall, the paper contributes to the discussion about the importance of the antecedents of exploration and exploitation activities, answering the call for a more in-depth investigation of the impact of entrepreneurs’ behaviours and abilities.