The Library
Exploration, exploitation, and variability : competition for primacy revisited
Tools
Uotila, Juha (2017) Exploration, exploitation, and variability : competition for primacy revisited. Strategic Organization, 15 (4). pp. 461-480. doi:10.1177/1476127017705103 ISSN 1476-1270.
|
PDF
WRAP-exploration-exploitation-variability-Uotila-2017.pdf - Accepted Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (1353Kb) | Preview |
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1476127017705103
Abstract
This study examines how exploration and exploitation contribute to variability in organizational performance and how this variability influences competitions for primacy, that is, contexts in which the ability to generate exceptionally high levels of performance is a key success factor. The results of simulation analyses conducted using the NK model, the mutual learning model, and the multiarmed bandit model all show that while exploration introduces more internal variability in organizations, exploitation tends to increase the variability in performance between different organizations. Variability and uniqueness in relation to one’s competitors, brought about by a single-minded focus on exploitation, is found to be advantageous in a race to finish first. In contrast, in contexts where avoiding especially low performance is the key consideration, exploration is found to be relatively more beneficial. These results suggest a need for a more nuanced understanding of the relationships between exploration, exploitation, and organizational risk taking.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management H Social Sciences > HF Commerce |
||||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School > Strategy & International Business Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School |
||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Organizational effectiveness -- Simulation methods, Success in business | ||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Strategic Organization | ||||||||
Publisher: | Sage Publications Ltd | ||||||||
ISSN: | 1476-1270 | ||||||||
Official Date: | 1 November 2017 | ||||||||
Dates: |
|
||||||||
Volume: | 15 | ||||||||
Number: | 4 | ||||||||
Page Range: | pp. 461-480 | ||||||||
DOI: | 10.1177/1476127017705103 | ||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 11 May 2017 | ||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 6 September 2017 |
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
View Item |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year