The impact of Ambidextrous leadership in enhancing strategic learning processes

An exploratory and analytical study of the opinions of a sample of university leaders in private universities and Faculties in Middle Euphrates

A Thesis submitted to Council of Faculty of Administration and Economics/University of Kerbala, It is part of the requirements for obtaining a master’s degree in business administration

Submitted by

ALI JABER Abd ALI

Supervisor

Asst. prof. Dr. Ahmed Abdullah Amanah AL- Shammari

Abstract

      The study aimed to test the effect of adopting Ambidextrous leadership behaviors in enhancing strategic learning processes in private universities and Faculties in Middle Euphrates region – Iraq. The dimensions of Ambidextrous leadership represented by (opening leadership behaviors and closing leadership behaviors) were adopted based on (Zacher&Rosing,2015), while the strategic learning processes represented by (generation, distribution, interpretation and implementation of strategic knowledge) were adopted based on (Idris&AL-Rubaie,2013). The private universities and Faculties in the Middle Euphrates region were selected as a community for the current study, through a questionnaire prepared for this purpose, and the sample reached (171) individuals from the administrative and scientific leaders, including (university presidents and their assistants, deans of Faculties and their assistants, heads of scientific and administrative departments). A set of statistical methods and appropriate treatment were used to analyze the data and prove the three hypotheses assumed by the researcher within his current study, as confirmatory factor analysis, normal distribution tests, reliability, Cronbach alpha, internal consistency, a group of descriptive statistics, and a group of analytical statistics were used. The study reached a set of conclusions, the most important of which is the existence of a significant correlation and influence of Ambidextrous leadership in its two dimensions: the opening behaviors of leaders and the closing behaviors of leaders within the work environment in enhancing the strategic learning processes of those private universities and Faculties. The study concluded with a set of recommendations, the most prominent of which was the need for university and Faculty administrations to pay more attention to the field of application in adopting and supporting Ambidextrous leadership behaviors in the workplace to enhance their levels of strategic learning in order to enhance their strategic position to confront the effects of competing universities and Faculties in the contemporary local business environment.

Keywords: Ambidextrous Leadership, Strategic Learning