Cognitive Ambidexterity in Top Management Teams, Strategic Paradox Navigation, and Long-Term Firm Resilience: Evidence from Nigerian Banks

This study investigates the role of cognitive ambidexterity in top management teams (TMTs) in navigating strategic paradoxes and building long-term firm resilience in Nigerian commercial banks, extending upper echelons theory through an original cognitive ambidexterity construct grounded in strategic paradox theory. Nigerian banking presents a rich context where TMTs simultaneously manage exploration-exploitation tensions, short-term profitability and long-term capitalisation demands, and regulatory compliance alongside innovation imperatives. Employing a longitudinal mixed-methods design, this research combines sixteen years of secondary performance data for 22 commercial banks with qualitative cognitive mapping analysis of 48 TMT members through structured interviews and scenario response protocols. Cognitive ambidexterity is operationalised as the TMT's capacity to hold and productively work with conflicting strategic frames simultaneously. Findings from the quantitative analysis demonstrate that TMTs exhibiting higher cognitive ambidexterity scores are associated with significantly stronger long-term resilience indicators, including crisis recovery speed, performance volatility reduction, and strategic adaptation range. Qualitative findings reveal that cognitive ambidexterity is developed through deliberate paradox dialogue practices in strategic planning processes rather than through individual cognitive traits alone. The study generates original theoretical contributions by articulating the team-level cognitive mechanisms through which strategic paradoxes are navigated without destructive either-or resolution, advancing both paradox theory and upper echelons theory in the banking context. Keywords: cognitive ambidexterity, top management teams, strategic paradox, firm resilience, Nigerian banks.