Social capital and ambidextrous leadership as drivers of sustainable competitive advantage in export SMEs: The mediating roles of knowledge management and innovation capability -- evidence from Bali, Indonesia

This study investigates how social capital and ambidextrous leadership contribute to sustainable competitive advantage in export-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by examining the mediating roles of knowledge management and innovation capability and assessing business performance as an additional pathway. Drawing on the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities perspective, survey data were collected from 114 export-oriented SMEs in Bali, Indonesia, and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results show that social capital and ambidextrous leadership both positively influence knowledge management, which in turn enhances innovation capability. Innovation capability has a significant positive effect on both business performance and sustainable competitive advantage, whereas business performance does not significantly predict sustainable competitive advantage. The mediation results further indicate that knowledge management mediates the effects of social capital and ambidextrous leadership on innovation capability. In addition, the serial mediation pathway from ambidextrous leadership to sustainable competitive advantage through knowledge management and innovation capability is significant, whereas the corresponding pathway from social capital is not. These findings suggest that sustainable competitive advantage in export-oriented SMEs is shaped more by capability development than by short-term performance outcomes and that leadership plays a critical role in converting relational resources into sustained strategic value. The study contributes to strategic management research by clarifying the mechanisms through which relational and managerial resources are transformed into long-term competitiveness in dynamic export markets.