Crossing the great divide of strategic entrepreneurship: Transitioning between exploration and exploitation

Managing uncertainty effectively is perhaps one of the most significant challenges a firm's decision makers face today. Strategic entrepreneurship—defined as exploration for future sources of competitive advantage, combined with exploitation of current sources of competitive advantage—has been...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Business horizons 2009-09, Vol.52 (5), p.469-479
Main Authors: Ireland, R. Duane, Webb, Justin W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Competitive advantage
Entrepreneurship
Exploitation
Exploration
Strategic entrepreneurship
Strategic management
Studies
Transition
Transitions
Uncertainty
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Managing uncertainty effectively is perhaps one of the most significant challenges a firm's decision makers face today. Strategic entrepreneurship—defined as exploration for future sources of competitive advantage, combined with exploitation of current sources of competitive advantage—has been proposed as a means via which decision makers can manage uncertainty. In this article, we discuss the transition between exploration and exploitation activities within organizations as a vital part of strategic entrepreneurship; this transition process can involve various types of internal firm challenges. Additionally, we highlight various sources for these internal challenges and mechanisms through which firms can overcome them.
ISSN:0007-6813
1873-6068
DOI:10.1016/j.bushor.2009.05.002