Exploitation und Exploration in dualen Organisationen: Vom Nebeneinander zum Miteinander

This conceptual article in the journal “Gruppe.Interaktion.Organization. (GIO)” has a double integrative concern. On the one hand, by bringing together interdisciplinary concepts similar to exploitation and exploration, a deeper understanding of the background of both learning patterns is to be gained, the interplay of which is understood as a fundamental organizational dynamic field of tension; on the other hand, an overview of organizational models is provided, which show how this field of tension can be implemented in operational practice. The institutional anchoring and the facilitation of interaction between organizational processes that are more committed to exploration and those that are more committed to exploitation ensure that, on the one hand, promising ideas are generated and, on the other, successful approaches of the present are implemented efficiently and, ideally, both modes of action can benefit from each other. One question that has remained unanswered since the 1970s is which (group of) people and mechanisms can achieve effective integration, networking and translation between the two learning worlds, i.e. who or what takes the place of top management, which has lost importance as a central integrative authority due to the complexity and dynamics of the environment. This requires outstanding individuals with professional, interpersonal or coordinative talent who are able to take on this task and not treat it as a secondary function.