The intervening role of ambidexterity in the knowledge management project success connection

Abstract

Enhanced positive outcomes and benefits require project management to be integrated with knowledge management (KM) to induce ambidexterity and project success. To offer an empirical insight into this issue and advance the field of knowledge further, this research studies the mediating role of ambidexterity within the KM project success connection. The data collected from a sample of 350 senior people who have familiarity with relevant capital projects in the manufacturing companies in Jordan were analyzed using the algorithm of partial least squares (PLS) and bootstrapping techniques. The findings of the study show that KM is an integral aspect of project success, and it has a significant positive effect on project success, but KM, which does not induce ambidexterity, could not significantly enhance project success. KM can induce and stimulate enhanced project performance and benefits only when it induces ambidexterity. This implies that project success requires KM, given that KM allows organizations to possess exploitative and explorative capabilities simultaneously to tackle issues arising from the external environment. That this study covers only the manufacturing sector in Jordan, the research model can be replicated in other contexts to solidify the findings of the current study.