Individual absorptive capacity, individual ambidexterity, and intrapreneurial behavior: a mediated microfoundations model in a developing economy

Despite growing interest in intrapreneurship, the individual-level capability mechanisms that translate knowledge into intrapreneurial behavior (IB) remain insufficiently theorized. Drawing on the microfoundations perspective, this study examines how individual absorptive capacity (IAC) is associated with IB both directly and indirectly through individual ambidexterity (IA). Using survey data from 545 professionals in established organizations in a developing economy, IAC is strongly associated with both IA and IB; IA partially mediates this relationship, revealing two theoretically distinct pathways. Dimensional analysis shows that exploitation, the realized absorptive-capacity sub-dimension, is the specific point at which individual absorptive capacity connects to individual ambidexterity, extending Zahra and George (Citation2002) potential/realized distinction (established at the organizational level) to how individual capabilities connect functionally. Complementing this, Necessary Condition Analysis shows that IAC constitutes a necessary microfoundation for IB, whereas IA operates only as a contributing amplifier, a distinction sufficiency-oriented methods alone cannot establish. Age moderates the mediated pathway; gender does not. These findings provide a refined microfoundational account of intrapreneurial action in a developing-economy context, with actionable implications for organizations under conditions of institutional volatility.