Exploration, Exploitation, and Organizational Coordination Mechanisms

Abstract

This paper presents an empirical relationship among exploration, exploitation, and organizational coordination mechanisms, classified as the centralization of decision-making, formalization, and connectedness. In order to analyze the findings of this survey, we used two techniques: Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (PLS-PM). Our analysis was supported by 249 answers from managers of companies located in Brazil (convenience sampling). Contrary to expectations, centralization and exploitation were negatively associated. Our data supports the research hypothesis that formalization is positively associated with exploitation. Although the relationship between formalization and exploration were significant, the result is contrary to the research hypothesis that we made. The relationships among connectedness and exploitation, and connectedness and exploration were both positive and significant. This relationship means that the more connectedness increases, the higher the likelihood of exploitation and exploration.

centralization; formalization; connectedness; exploration; exploitation