Strategic Leadership, Paradox Management, and Organisational Ambidexterity: A Multi-Case Study in High-Velocity Nigerian Industries

This study explores how strategic leaders manage organisational paradoxes to enable ambidexterity in high-velocity Nigerian industries, specifically fintech, telecommunications, and agro-processing, generating an original process theory of strategic leadership-driven ambidexterity grounded in the Nigerian institutional and competitive context. High-velocity environments intensify the inherent exploration-exploitation tension, making the leadership mechanisms that resolve this ambidexterity paradox critically important, yet poorly understood in African business contexts. Employing a multi-case study design with a process theory-building orientation, this research investigates nine firms across Lagos, Kano, and Port Harcourt through 82 interviews with CEOs, C-suite executives, and board members, supplemented by longitudinal observation of strategy processes and archival analysis. The process tracing methodology identifies the specific leadership behaviours, cognitive processes, and structural interventions through which strategic leaders navigate exploration-exploitation tensions over time. Three original leadership mechanisms are theorised: temporal paradox sequencing, where leaders cyclically prioritise exploration and exploitation phases; spatial paradox separation, where structural ambidexterity is sustained through differentiated leadership mandates; and paradox integration, where leaders synthesise seemingly contradictory strategic imperatives into coherent identity-consistent narratives. The study generates a theoretically-grounded typology of paradox management styles and their contextual applicability, advancing paradox theory and strategic leadership research within the African high-velocity industry context. Keywords: strategic leadership, paradox management, organisational ambidexterity, high-velocity industries, Nigeria.