Dynamic capabilities and organizational ambidexterity: New strategies from emerging market multinational enterprises in Nigeria

Abstract

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.

Ambidexterity in strategic alliances: An integrative review of the literature

“…The human capital, board capital and managerial cognition of senior managers could shape the ambidextrous activities in strategic alliances (Kaur et al., 2019). Managers could develop shared visions and facilitate the meaningful behavioural integration of conflicting activities in a single strategic alliance (Ochie et al., 2022). Research would therefore need to account for the role of the top and middle/functional level managers.…”

Antecedents of Industry 4.0 capabilities and technological innovation: a dynamic capabilities perspective

“…Dynamic capabilities were defined by a set of scholars, and the broadest definition may be what was put by Augier and Teece (2009) as “The ability to sense and then seize new opportunities, and to reconfigure and protect knowledge assets, competencies, and complementary assets to achieve a sustained competitive advantage.” Teece et al (1997) identified a set of dimensions through which dynamic capabilities can be measured, namely, sensing is the first stage in firms' use of their dynamic capabilities; firms seek through sensing to develop their exploratory capabilities (Ellström et al , 2022), that is, its ability to research, explore and develop to reach new markets, opportunities or products (Teece et al , 2016); (2) seizing is the internal ability that firms possess (Jantunen et al , 2018) because this ability is necessary to seize opportunities and transform them into a tangible reality that has economic and moral value (Atiku and Abatan, 2021), leading to improving business efficiency; and reconfiguring capabilities depend on the extent to which firms can organize, mobilize and exploit their resources and transform tangible and intangible resources into new business value and develop the ability to organizational learning (Jantunen et al , 2018). Reconfiguring capabilities are important and necessary because they develop exploitation activities and enhance the harmony between exploration and exploitation activities and organizational ambidexterity (Ochie et al , 2022).…”

“…It has become necessary for these firms to change their strategies to keep pace with these changes in the business environment (Al-Khatib and Al-Ghanem, 2022). to achieve these strategies, it has become important for firms to review their competencies and make optimal use of their resources (Alkhatib and Valeri, 2022) and use exploration activities to obtain and acquire new potential opportunities in the business environment, leading to achieving its objectives and creating new competitive advantages (Ochie et al , 2022).…”

Ambidextrous organizations in and from emerging markets—Editors' special issue introduction

“…The eighth study titled “ Dynamic Capabilities and Organisational Ambidexterity: New Strategies from Emerging Market Multinational Enterprises in Nigeria ” by Ochie et al (2022) looks at case studies from five EMNEs in Nigerian financial sector and with use of dynamic capabilities' lens, a framework has been developed with four main ambidextrous strategies, that is, new business models, investment in technology for strategic innovation, developing strategic alliances, and internationalization. These strategies have been deployed by firms for organizational ambidexterity with conditions of environmental uncertainty.…”

“…Moreover, the company also exploited opportunities of financial resources for international operations in the foreign countries itself simultaneously managing local resources for local operation. Furthermore, Ochie, Nyuur, Ludwig, and Cunningham (2022) through their study on an MNC in Nigeria, identify four strategies that help organizations to explore business opportunities while enriching existing capabilities. They are designing new business models, investing in technology for innovation, establishing strategic alliances, and internationalization.…”