ENVIRONMENT TURBULENCE EFFECT ON THE DYNAMICS OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL ACCUMULATION AND AMBIDEXTROUS INNOVATION

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study the influence of the environment on the link between intellectual capital and ambidextrous innovation. The environment has been considered taking into account the technological turbulence and the market turbulence. Using a questionnaire survey approach, data were obtained from 155 directors representing Tunisian SMEs. Two main theoretical implications were highlighted. The first is the extent of the intellectual capital contribution, with its human, organizational and relational components, to the reading of the ambidextrous innovation within the organization. The second is the moderating role of environmental turbulence. From a practical side, the study tried to reap the intellectual capital benefits and the intermediate effect of environmental turbulence to improve the manager’s yields in term of innovation. Interestingly, results show that human capital affects ambidextrous innovation. It influences radical innovation more than incremental innovation. Relationship capital promotes only incremental innovation. Organizational capital influences ambidextrous innovation. Its effect on incremental innovation is greater than on radical innovation. Both technological and market turbulences moderate negatively the human capital effect on incremental innovation. Counter to our expectations, however, environmental turbulence does not moderate the interrelationships selectively between relational capital, organizational capital and ambidextrous innovation. The present study is one of the few studies conducted in Tunisia investigating the field of intellectual capital and the first studying its effect on the ambidextrous innovation in a turbulent environment.