Achieving job performance through agility and innovativeness by strategizing learning ambidexterity

Purpose Being agile and innovative are both critical for outstanding job performance. Drawing upon ambidexterity theory, this study establishes a research framework that illustrates how personal agility and personal innovativeness are affected through ambidextrous learning to achieve optimal job performance. Within this framework, ambidextrous learning, encompassing both exploration and exploitation, serves as predictors, influencing both agility and innovativeness, ultimately contributing to the development of job performance. At the same time, knowledge-oriented leadership is proposed as a moderator, potentially influencing the effects of these predictors on agility and innovativeness. Design/methodology/approach Anonymous survey questionnaires were distributed to project management staff at a large high-tech conglomerate in Taiwan, who voluntarily participated in this research. Of the 750 questionnaires distributed, 443 valid responses were received. These employees were chosen as suitable subjects for this study due to the nature of their project management roles, which require them to engage in ambidextrous learning, involving both exploration and exploitation in their workplace. Data analysis was conducted using structural equation modeling, moderated regression analysis, and the unmeasured latent method construct approach. Findings This study finds the positive influence of exploration on both agility and innovativeness, underscoring the importance of motivating employees to participate in activities characterized by research, discovery, experimentation, variation and inquisitiveness. Besides, the discovered negative influence of exploitation on innovativeness suggests that employees should be cautious about overutilizing exploitative strategies when faced with tasks requiring creative insights and novel perspectives. Furthermore, the adverse moderation effect of knowledge-oriented leadership on the impact of exploration on agility and innovativeness implies that an excessive focus on knowledge-oriented leadership, while beneficial, can have unintended consequences by diminishing the positive outcomes of employees’ exploratory activities. Originality/value This study effectively acknowledges that adjusting exploration and exploitation simultaneously can be complex due to their intertwined nature within learning processes. Consequently, supervisors are responsible for monitoring and adjusting exploration and exploitation levels to implement effective fine-tuning strategies that enhance both agility and innovativeness, ultimately improving job performance. In summary, by leveraging the mediating and moderating mechanisms examined in this study, employees are likely to be incentivized to cultivate robust ambidexterity, leading to improved job performance.