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

Abstract

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.