Management Papers
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
3-2012
Publication Source
Management Science
Volume
58
Issue
3
Start Page
587
Last Page
601
DOI
10.1287/mnsc.1110.1420
Abstract
A common justification for organizational change is that the circumstances in which the organization finds itself have changed, thereby eroding the value of utilizing existing knowledge. On the surface, the claim that organizations should adapt by generating new knowledge seems obvious and compelling. However, this standard wisdom overlooks the possibility that the reward to generating new knowledge may itself be eroded if change is an ongoing property of the environment. This observation in turn suggests that environmental change is not a self-evident call for strategies of greater exploration. Indeed, under some conditions the appropriate response to environmental change is a renewed focus on exploiting existing knowledge and opportunities. We develop a computational model based on the canonical multiarmed bandit formulation of exploration and exploitation. We endeavor to understand the mechanisms by which environmental change acts to make purposeful efforts at organizational adaptation less (or more) valuable.
Keywords
adaptation, learning, exploration, exploitation, turbulence
Recommended Citation
Posen, H. E. (2012). Chasing a Moving Target: Exploitation and Exploration in Dynamic Environments. Management Science, 58 (3), 587-601. http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1110.1420
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons
Date Posted: 27 November 2017
This document has been peer reviewed.