Flexibility-oriented human resource management system and employee ambidexterity: a moderating role of psychological capital

This study examines the context needed for the development of individual ambidexterity by exploring relationships between the flexibility-oriented human resource management (FHRM) system and two distinct but related employee ambidextrous behaviours, namely exploitation and exploration. We further investigated the moderating role of psychological capital (PsyCap) in these relationships. With its sample of 419 employees in large banking organisations in Thailand, the study revealed that coordination FHRM and resource FHRM – two distinct forms of the FHRM system – are strongly related to exploitative and exploration behaviour, respectively. Our results also demonstrate that PsyCap strengthens the effect of resource FHRM on exploitation and that of coordination FHRM on exploration. This study extends previous research by emphasising that subsystems of FHRM have different behavioural consequences on individual-level ambidexterity and showing that a synergy between either coordination or resource FHRM subsystem and high PsyCap condition can effectively empower an employee to engage in both exploitation and exploration.