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  • April 2003
  • Article
  • Academy of Management Review

Exploitation, Exploration, and Process Management: The Productivity Dilemma Revisited

By: Mary J. Benner and Michael L. Tushman
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:19
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Abstract

We develop a contingency view of process management's influence on both technological innovation and organizational adaptation. We argue that while process management activities are beneficial for organizations in stable contexts, they are fundamentally inconsistent with all but incremental innovation and change. But dynamic capabilities are rooted in both exploitative and exploratory activities. We argue that process management activities must be buffered from exploratory activities and that ambidextrous organizational forms provide the complex contexts for these inconsistent activities to coexist.

Keywords

Management; Problems and Challenges

Citation

Benner, Mary J., and Michael L. Tushman. "Exploitation, Exploration, and Process Management: The Productivity Dilemma Revisited." Academy of Management Review 28, no. 2 (April 2003): 238–256. (Winner of Academy of Management Review. Best Paper Award​. Also the 2013 AMR Decade Award winner.)
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About The Author

Michael L. Tushman

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

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More from the Authors
  • Reimagining Enel: Enabling Sustainable Progress By: Michael L. Tushman and Kerry Herman
  • Corporate Explorer: How Corporations Beat Startups at the Innovation Game By: Andrew Binns, Charles A. O'Reilly III and Michael Tushman
  • Leading Disruption in a Legacy Business: A Compelling Growth Ambition Is a Critical Enabler for New Ventures By: Andy Binns, Michael Tushman and Charles O'Reilly
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