Green transformational leadership and employees' green ambidexterity: the role of green organizational support and market turbulence

Purpose Drawing on the natural resource-based view and organizational ambidexterity theory, this study aims to examine whether green transformational leadership (idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration) fosters employees' green ambidexterity (exploration, exploitation) through green organizational support, with market turbulence as a boundary condition. Design/methodology/approach Survey data were gathered from 383 employees employed in green-certified ready-made garment factories in Bangladesh. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to assess measurement and structural models. Findings Green transformational leadership promotes employees' green ambidexterity under conditions where it translates into green organizational support, which, in turn, predicts both green exploration and green exploitation and fully or partially mediates the effects of its four dimensions on those outcomes. Market turbulence further strengthens this support-based pathway for green exploitation, whereas no equivalent effect emerges for green exploration. Originality/value Current work on green transformational leadership often treats leadership and ambidexterity as unidimensional constructs. This study shows that the dimensions of green transformational leadership do not exert uniform employee-level effects (what). Green organizational support functions as the main conversion mechanism through which green transformational leadership becomes green ambidexterity (why). Market turbulence sharpens that process mainly on the exploitative side (when). Evidence from the Bangladeshi ready-made garment industry extends green human resource management research into a labor-intensive setting that faces acute environmental pressure as well as strong export dependence.