Strategic leadership and ambidextrous learning: Exploring the role of dynamic capabilities and intellectual capital

The purpose of this paper is to explore the dynamics of “leadership and organizational learning” process and the factors that shape this process. Building upon the ideas of transformational and transactional leadership (TFL and TAL), explorative – and exploitative – learning (ERL and ETL), dynamic capabilities (DCs) and intellectual capital architecture (ICA), this paper develops a model of organizational learning. The model explains how leadership styles trigger versatile learning, and how DCs and ICA of a firm influence this process.

This paper builds upon a systematic review of the literature to develop propositions delineating the complex and poorly understood relationship between leadership styles, organizational learning and the role of DCs and ICA in this process. The paper develops multiple propositions, which together constitute an overarching framework explaining how leadership styles shape organizational learning.

Leadership approaches, DCs and ICA of a firm all have a differential effect on ERL and ETL. TFL and TAL promote ERL and ETL, respectively. The presence of DCs facilitates the effect of TFL in supporting ERL but negatively influences the role of TAL in ETL. The effect of ICA is discussed in terms of knowledge stocks (generalist vs specialist), social architecture (entrepreneurial vs cooperative) and organizational capital (organic vs mechanistic). The generalist knowledge facilitates TFL → ERL, while the specialist knowledge facilitates TAL → ETL path. Entrepreneurial architectures are suitable for TFL → ERL, while cooperative structures promote TAL → ETL trajectory. Finally, organic systems facilitate TFL → ERL, while the mechanistic systems promote TAL → ETL.

The key contribution of the paper is in developing a model furnishing profound insights into leadership approaches and organizational learning and the role of two critical factors. To the best of the author’s knowledge, these aspects have not been discussed in a unified framework in the previous studies. Hence, the paper is novel in its contribution.