This study examines the strategies that firms deploy in developing and scaling up organizational ambidexterity under conditions of environmental uncertainty. Using five emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) in the Nigerian financial sector as case studies the study provides a framework of four main ambidextrous strategies deployed by these firms. Based on the dynamic capabilities' lens, the study found that EMNEs pursue a combination of contextual and structural ambidextrous strategies, including new business models, investment in technology for strategic innovation, developing strategic alliances, and internationalization. These strategies serve as levers of dynamic capabilities for fostering exploration of new business opportunities, while strengthening, enriching, and exploiting their existing capabilities. These findings contribute to enriching the existing literature on ambidexterity by contributing to the ongoing debate about how ambidexterity manifest in EMNEs during periods of environmental uncertainty, particularly from an emerging country context.

Small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) are constrained and hindered from connecting to the global value chain. Specifically, we examine how domestic firms mobilize their innovative capabilities to respond to firm‐level and market constraints. Drawing on a sample of 29 managers and owners of manufacturing SMEs in Nigeria, we uncovered that frequent power outages impose difficult additional cost and operational challenges, impeding their operational competitiveness for regional and global competition. We shed light on how resource‐deficits and infrastructural impediments impact SMEs' operational activities and curtail their market competitiveness on the global stage. Further theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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