Comparing the configured causal antecedents of exploration and exploitation: a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis

Frontiers of Business Research in China

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[1] 0000 0001 0662 3178, grid.12527.33, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, 100084, Beijing, China;0000 0004 0368 8103, grid.24539.39, Renmin Business School, Renmin University of China, 100872, Beijing, China;

关键词: Exploration;    Exploitation;    Ambidexterity;    Configuration;    Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA);    Environmental uncertainty;    Entrepreneurial bricolage;    Unit interdependence;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s11782-019-0048-z

来源: publisher

【 摘 要 】

Although exploration and exploitation, as a pair of paradoxical organizational outcomes, are generated by different causal conditions, the conjunction of their respective causal antecedents has yet to be fully examined. Combining environmental uncertainty, unit interdependence, entrepreneurial bricolage and firm life cycle stage in a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), the distinct causal configurations of exploration and exploitation are formalized and compared based on a survey of founders or high-level managers in 63 small firms. Results show that contrasted relationships between entrepreneurial bricolage and unit interdependence exist in that the two antecedents are partial substitutes in exploration whereas they are complements in exploitation when combined with other conditions. This study provides empirical evidence on the causal configurations of exploration and exploitation and deepens our current understanding of ambidexterity.

【 授权许可】

CC BY