Balancing the organizational tightrope: how flexibility-oriented HRM and empowering leadership drive organizational ambidexterity

Md. Zahidul Islam is an Associate Professor of Management in the School of Business and Economics at the University Brunei Darussalam (UBD). Zahid earned his Ph.D. and MBA degrees from the University of Science Malaysia (USM). Previously, he worked with universities in Bangladesh and Malaysia. Zahid has years of active teaching, consultancy and research experience in Strategic Management, Human Resource Management and Knowledge Management. Islam’s research interests include strategic knowledge management, strategic management, new product development and corporate sustainable performance. His research work has appeared in such journals as International Journal of Information Management, Management Decision, Journal of Database Management, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management and VINE: The Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems.

M. Muzamil Naqshbandi is an Associate Professor of Management and Innovation at the School of Business and Economics, University of Brunei Darussalam. Previously, he held positions at the University of Dubai in the UAE and the University of Malaya in Malaysia. Dr Naqshbandi’s career spans various sectors, including non-banking financial services and media, before transitioning into academia. Dr Naqshbandi is the Associate Editor of Management Decision (Emerald Publishing), Technology Analysis and Strategic Management (Taylor & Francis), and Senior Associate Editor of FIIB Business Review (Sage Publishing). He sits on the editorial boards of prestigious international journals, such as Journal of Knowledge Management, Journal of Innovation and Knowledge, European Journal of Innovation Management and Leadership and Organization Development. His current research is focused on open innovation, leadership and knowledge management. Dr Naqshbandi has won several international research grants totalling more than $200,000. He actively presents his work in international fora and contributes on the program committees and advisory boards of several international conferences. He also offers consultancy services to public and private organizations. His recent work has appeared in leading journals such as R&D Management, International Business Review, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Production Planning and Control, Journal of Knowledge Management, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, among others.

Wardah Azimah Sumardi is a faculty member at Universiti Brunei Darussalam specializing in human resource management (HRM). Sumardi has earned a doctoral degree in Business Management from Alliance Manchester Business School under the People, Management and Organisation (PMO) Division, University of Manchester, United Kingdom. Her thesis looked at employee involvement and participation in Brunei public sector undergoing change. She graduated from University of Manchester in 2008 with an MSc Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations. She has submitted a dissertation that examines the effectiveness of HRM in the banking sector in Brunei. She earned a bachelor degree in 2006 from Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) in Business Administration. In 2004, she obtained a diploma in Business Administration from University of Kent, United Kingdom. Her primary research interest is in employee involvement and participation (EIP) particularly in the critical and comparative works of EIP. In a larger field of study, research interests are in the areas of HRM, organizational behaviour and human resource development.

Ibrahim Tabche is an Associate Professor at the Canadian University Dubai. He is former Dean of Dubai Business School at the University of Dubai. Prior to joining Canadian University Dubai and University of Dubai, he served as the Dean of the College of Business Administration at Fahad bin Sultan University (FBSU) in Saudi Arabia where he established and managed the MBA and EMBA programmes. Tabche has also served as the head of the Dept. of Graduate Studies and the Director of the EMBA at the University of Sharjah in the UAE. He has taught at the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese American University in Beirut-Lebanon. Before joining academia, Tabche occupied several positions in the public and private sectors. His areas of interest include entrepreneurial economics, leadership, behavioural and managerial economics.

Nurul Amirah Ishak is an Assistant Lecturer at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD). Her research interests primarily lie in strategic knowledge management and organizational behaviour. Amirah earned her Bachelor of Science Honours degree (Biological Sciences) in 2016 and Master of Management degree in 2019, both from UBD. Her research has been published in esteemed journals, including VINE: The Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, Knowledge Management Research and Practice and The Learning Organization.