Organizational ambidexterity, green entrepreneurial orientation, and environmental performance in SMEs context: Examining the moderating role of perceived CSR

This study aims to investigate the effects of organizational ambidexterity and green entrepreneurial orientation (GEO) on the environmental performance of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Drawing upon social capital theory (SCT), this study suggests corporate social responsibility (CSR) as an important context that moderates the organizational ambidexterity–GEO nexus. Data were collected from 307 Pakistani manufacturing SMEs and analyzed through partial least squares (PLS)‐based structural equation modeling (SEM). The results provided empirical evidence in support of the study's hypotheses. The findings imply that the complexity and difficulty firms face in achieving environmental performance can be reduced through simultaneous exploration and exploitation of innovation as well as and through GEO. Furthermore, the effectiveness of ambidexterity in prompting GEO and subsequent environmental performance can be optimized as long as firms are capable of creating a suitable context, that is, CSR.