Strategic intelligence and organizational ambidexterity for strengthening health system performance in a public healthcare network.

This study examines the association between strategic intelligence (SI) and organizational ambidexterity (OA) in a public healthcare network, with attention to the two dimensions of OA: exploratory innovation (innovation, experimentation, and adaptation) and exploitative innovation (refinement, efficiency, and execution of existing competencies). OA was modeled as a latent variable indicated by the exploratory and exploitative innovation dimension scores. A cross-sectional correlational study was conducted in a public healthcare network in Iran (312 employees; 172 respondents, with the sample size guided by Cochran's formula). Persian-language versions of established self-report questionnaires measured SI (foresight, systemic thinking, vision, motivation, partnering) and OA (exploratory/exploitative innovation). Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) in AMOS and SPSS. Strategic intelligence was positively associated with organizational ambidexterity (standardized β = 0.580, R2 = 0.336), exploratory innovation (β = 0.585, R2 = 0.342), and exploitative innovation (β = 0.639, R2 = 0.408). Among the SI dimensions, foresight, vision, and partnering were positively associated with organizational ambidexterity, whereas systemic thinking and motivation were not statistically significant. The associations concern employees' perceptions of organizational capabilities. No patient-level outcomes, service-quality indicators, access measures, or health-system performance data were collected; any relevance to health-system performance or Sustainable Development Goal 3 is therefore a hypothesized pathway for future research, not a result of this study. Because of the cross-sectional self-report design, the single-site sample, and the modest sample size, the findings are preliminary and should not be interpreted causally or generalized.