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Counterbalancing Exploitative Knowledge Search during Environmental Dynamism: Reinforcing New Ideas for Existing Products
Author(s) -
Lakemond Nicolette,
Detterfelt Jonas
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
creativity and innovation management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1467-8691
pISSN - 0963-1690
DOI - 10.1111/caim.12038
Subject(s) - dynamism , exploratory research , business , product (mathematics) , action (physics) , ideation , face (sociological concept) , exploratory analysis , marketing , new product development , industrial organization , knowledge management , computer science , sociology , psychology , data science , social science , physics , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics , anthropology , cognitive science
Established firms face the challenge of counterbalancing their predominant focus on exploitation with exploration. This paper explores how these firms can reinforce new exploratory ideas for existing products, especially during periods of environmental dynamism. The study is based on an action research study at a new product development ( NPD ) department at an international manufacturing firm operating in a cyclical market. The results show that increased environmental dynamism opens new opportunities for counterbalancing exploitative approaches by building exploratory skills. The action contributed specifically to breaking with old traditions in the NPD organization, and resulted in actionable knowledge in terms of an ideation approach. However, the study also shows that fast industry cycles that do not match the remote returns of exploratory knowledge searches diminish the possibility to sustain exploratory knowledge searches in organizations. The paper identifies important problems related to the long‐time horizon of exploration and the cyclical nature of industries.