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Through a qualitative study of business unit managers from an international airline, we build theory about the underlying features of organisational context that are most critical in developing contextual ambidexterity. We found that strategic capital defines a context that allows the meta-capabilities of alignment and adaptability to simultaneously flourish in strategic management, and sustain strategic success. The strategic capital endowments found to facilitate contextual ambidexterity are identified and discussed, which include championing, strategy commitment, implementation support, implementation effectiveness, learning and memory. Implications of our findings for both theory and practice are discussed.