Empirical Investigation of Strategic Leadership and Organisational Ambidexterity in Nigerian Insurance Companies

Organisational ambidexterity, the simultaneous pursuit of exploitation and exploration, requires strategic leadership capable of managing the inherent tensions between efficiency and innovation, and its investigation in Nigerian insurance companies, a sector under structural disruption, fills an important empirical gap. This study empirically investigated the relationship between strategic leadership dimensions and organisational ambidexterity in 22 licensed insurance companies in Nigeria, drawing on respondents from Lagos, Abuja, and Ibadan operations. Strategic leadership was assessed through CEO transformational and transactional leadership, top management team diversity, and strategic decision comprehensiveness. Ambidexterity was measured by balanced exploitation (operational efficiency) and exploration (innovation and new market development) scores. Data were collected from 110 senior executives through structured questionnaires. Hierarchical regression and moderation analysis were employed. Results showed that transformational leadership was significantly positively associated with exploration activities (beta = 0.54, p < 0.001), while transactional leadership was more strongly linked to exploitation efficiency (beta = 0.48, p < 0.001). Top management team diversity moderated the leadership-ambidexterity relationship, with diverse teams showing better ambidextrous performance under both leadership types. Strategic decision comprehensiveness significantly predicted balanced ambidexterity (beta = 0.41, p < 0.001). Insurance companies achieving high ambidexterity showed 29% better premium income growth than low-ambidexterity peers. The study recommends that Nigerian insurance companies develop dual leadership development tracks that cultivate both transformational and transactional capabilities for ambidextrous strategic management. Keywords: strategic leadership, organisational ambidexterity, insurance companies, Nigeria, top management team