Mantra of sustainability, navigating organizational ambidexterity: cultivating intellectual capital to drive competitive advantage and innovation capabilities

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relationship between intellectual capital (IC), organizational ambidexterity (OA) and emergent strategies (ES) within the hospitality industry in Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on the resource-based view theory and involves a quantitative design, where the survey data of 385 hotel managers is analyzed with the help of partial least squares methods. Findings It shows that relational and innovation capital have a strong relationship in improving ambidexterity in an organization, and that structural capital (SC) is a contradiction compared to traditional beliefs. Amazingly, the effect of human capital (HC) is nonsignificant. Moreover, IC and competitive advantage, as well as innovation capabilities, are correlated with OA. Remarkably, ES also moderate the relationship between innovation capital and ambidexterity positively. Originality/value This study investigates the dissimilar effects of IC on OA in Pakistan’s hospitality industry, with the identification of a counterintuitive negative influence of SC and an insignificant contribution of HC.