Exploratory and Exploitative Adaptation in Turbulent and Complex Landscapes

Using a simulation of organizational adaptation in turbulent and complex landscapes, I examine how the optimal balance between exploration and exploitation is influenced by the organization’s task environment. I find that, contrary to conventional wisdom, increasing exploration relative to exploitation is not always the optimal response to increased environmental turbulence or complexity. Turbulence is found to have a curvilinear effect on the optimal share of exploratory versus exploitative adaptation, with the relative importance of exploitation greatest at moderate degrees of turbulence. While environmental complexity is found to have a generally positive effect on the optimal share of exploration, the effects of complexity and turbulence are found to interact and, jointly, to increase the relative importance of exploitative adaptation over exploratory adaptation. These findings suggest that the proper exploration–exploitation balance depends, in complex ways, on the pressures for global versus local adaptability posed by the interaction of turbulence and complexity.