Exploitation and exploration learning and the development of organizational capabilities

A cross-case analysis of the Russian oil industry

Bibliographic Data

ID9889152
AuthorsSarah E A Dixon (Kingston University), Sarah Dixon (Kingston University, corresponding author), Klaus E Meyer (0000-0002-3253-9364, Strategy and International Business at the School of Management of the University of Bath, UK), Marc Day (0000-0002-1711-3963, School of Projects, Processes and Systems at Henley Management College, UK)
Year2007
Volume60
Issue10
Pages1493-1523
Publication date2007-10-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Relations (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0018-7267 • E-ISSN: 1741-282X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0018726707083475
OpenAlexW2148386868
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited73

We use a cross-case analysis of four Russian oil majors to develop a framework explaining the relationship between exploitation and exploration learning, and the development of organizational capabilities in transition economies. Our research explains how the changing top management style influences organizational learning over time. In the first stage of organizational transformation an authoritarian management style initiates a break with the administrative heritage of the organization to facilitate exploitation learning and the development of operational capabilities. These are required for survival in the new conditions of a market economy. In the second stage a more participatory management style fosters exploration learning and the development of strategic flexibility, required for sustainable competitive advantage. We demonstrate that exploitation and exploration learning do not coexist in the initial stages of transformation but are sequential. We found that the western-derived constructs of organizational learning add to our understanding of the process of organizational transformation in a transition context. Our study of the Russian oil industry also provides new ways to think about the processes of organizational learning in western companies, particularly large bureaucratic ones, anchored in their administrative heritage and needing to undergo organizational transformation

Bureaucracy · Business · Context (archaeology · Knowledge management · Learning organization · Organization development · Organizational learning · Political science · Process (computing · Process management · Computer Science · Innovation and Knowledge Management · Natural Resources and Economic Development

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