Strategic Renewal as Improvisation: Reconciling the Tension Between Exploration and Exploitation

Abstract

Management theory has paid scant attention to the nature and reconciliation of the tension between exploration and exploitation, in spite of its central importance to strategic renewal. This paper uses Hurst's (1995) ecocycle to frame the tension and employs complexity theory to examine how the tension manifests itself across levels and time. Improvisation is advanced as a process to reconcile and manage the tension between exploration and exploitation.

Citation

Crossan, M.M. and Hurst, D.K. (2006), "Strategic Renewal as Improvisation: Reconciling the Tension Between Exploration and Exploitation", Baum, J.A.C., Dobrev, S.D. and Van Witteloostuijn, A. (Ed.) Ecology and Strategy (Advances in Strategic Management, Vol. 23), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 273-298. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-3322(06)23009-2