International Journal of Innovative Research in Engineering and Management
Year: 2026, Volume: 13, Issue: 3
First page : ( 47) Last page : ( 55)
Online ISSN : 2350-0557
, Nana Varian Januardi
DOI: 10.55524/ijirem.2026.13.3.6 | DOI URL: https://doi.org/10.55524/ijirem.2026.13.3.6
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
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Afina Hasya , Nana Varian Januardi
Purpose — Innovation ambidexterity has attracted growing scholarly attention, yet its manifestation in resource-constrained micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), particularly in developing economy contexts, remains poorly understood. This paper presents a systematic literature review examining how innovation ambidexterity operates in MSMEs confronting resource scarcity, with specific attention to the enabling mechanisms, gender dimensions, and institutional contexts that have been systematically neglected in extant research. Design/methodology/approach — Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, a comprehensive search of the Scopus database was conducted, covering the period 2004–2024. After a structured screening process, 78 peer-reviewed journal articles underwent rigorous thematic synthesis guided by an iterative coding procedure. Findings — The review identifies six major thematic clusters: (1) antecedents of innovation ambidexterity in MSMEs, including entrepreneurial orientation, organisational slack, and environmental dynamism; (2) enabling mechanisms, notably entrepreneurial bricolage and dynamic capabilities; (3) social capital as a compensatory and mediating resource; (4) digital technology as an amplifier of ambidextrous capacity; (5) gender and innovation ambidexterity, an almost entirely neglected dimension; and (6) developing economy and informal sector contexts. An integrative conceptual framework and a structured six-item research agenda are proposed. Research limitations — The review is restricted to English-language, database-indexed publications. The evolving nature of the field means that emerging streams, including indigenous scholarly contributions from non-Anglophone research communities, may be underrepresented. Practical implications — Findings are directly relevant for MSME support policy, particularly in the design of social capital-building interventions and digital literacy programmes that can simultaneously enhance exploratory and exploitative innovation capacity among resource-constrained MSME operators. Originality/value — To the authors' knowledge, this is the first systematic literature review to explicitly foreground resource constraints, gender, and developing economy context as intersecting dimensions of innovation ambidexterity in MSMEs, and the first to integrate bricolage theory with the ambidexterity framework in a comprehensive review.
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Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Diponegoro, Indonesia
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