FOSTERING ORGANISATIONAL AMBIDEXTERITY THROUGH ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF INNOVATION CULTURE

In the increasingly competitive landscape, organisations are emphasising absorptive capacity, innovation culture, and organisational ambidexterity to sustain their competitive edge. This research investigates how innovation culture serves as a mediating factor in the linkage between absorptive capacity and the two dimensions of organisational ambidexterity — namely, competence exploitation and competence exploration — focusing on dairy product firms in Iran. A total of 287 Iranian managers and professional experts were randomly selected to participate in the study. Validity and reliability analyses were conducted using SPSS, while structural equation modelling (SEM) and statistical path analysis were performed using Mplus software to test the proposed hypotheses. The results indicate that innovation culture serves as a partial mediator in the positive relationship between absorptive capacity and both competence exploitation and competence exploration. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that absorptive capacity and innovation culture collectively enhance organisational ambidexterity in the dairy sector. These results underscore the importance for manufacturing firms, particularly those in developing markets like Iran, to cultivate an innovation-oriented culture that strengthens their absorptive capacity and ambidextrous capabilities. The study’s originality lies in its focus on an industry within a socio-economic and cultural context that differs from the commonly studied Western and European markets, offering valuable insights for managers and professionals aiming to boost performance in the global dairy industry.