Decoupling Managerial Cognition from Organizational Ambidexterity: A Reconceptualization of the Exploration–Exploitation Paradox Under Dynamic Capability Constraints

Abstract

Contemporary scholarship on organizational ambidexterity presupposes a linear correspondence between top management team (TMT) cognition and the firm's capacity to balance exploration and exploitation. This paper challenges that assumption by systematically re-examining the foundational premises of the exploration–exploitation paradox within the context of dynamic capability constraints prevalent in post-pandemic global markets (2022–2025). Drawing on a mixed-methods design—incorporating structural equation modeling across 347 mid-to-large enterprises in four OECD economies and qualitative case triangulation—we demonstrate that managerial cognitive schemas operate as mediating inhibitors, not enablers, of ambidextrous routines under high environmental volatility. Our findings fundamentally revise the widely accepted "cognitive alignment thesis," revealing that strategic decoupling of individual managerial mental models from organizational-level dynamic capabilities generates statistically superior adaptive performance outcomes. Implications for TMT composition, governance architecture, and capability reconfiguration are discussed.