The Roles of Knowledge Management and Innovation Ambidexterity in Business Resilience: Evidence from Indonesia’s Cosmetic Raw Material Industry

Abstract

Firms operating in import-dependent and information-intensive supply environments require organizational capabilities that support continuity and adaptation under disruption. This study examines the relationships of knowledge management and innovation ambidexterity with business resilience among cosmetic raw-material supplier firms in Indonesia. A cross-sectional survey of 189 senior representatives, each representing one firm, was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The focal structural model showed that knowledge management was positively associated with business resilience (beta = 0.472, t = 5.850, p < 0.001), while innovation ambidexterity was also positively associated with business resilience (beta = 0.443, t = 5.876, p < 0.001). Together, the two organizational capabilities accounted for 67.50% of the variance in business resilience (R2 = 0.675). The measurement results supported the hierarchical representation of knowledge management through knowledge acquisition and knowledge transfer capability, innovation ambidexterity through exploratory and exploitative innovation, and business resilience through reengineering and collaboration, although construct separation should be interpreted cautiously. Drawing on the knowledge-based view and dynamic capabilities perspective, the findings provide context-specific evidence that knowledge-related and innovation-related capabilities are associated with organizational resilience in an upstream, import-dependent industry in an emerging economy. The study contributes primarily through its empirical and contextual positioning rather than through the development of a new theoretical mechanism. Environmental and social sustainability outcomes were not directly measured.