RESPONSIBLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP VISION DEVELOPMENT AND ETHICS

348 RESPONSIBLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Outsourcing
When outsourcing (or externalizing) one of the two activities, the firm focuses on one
activity and outsources the other activity or organizes it in an alliance (Raisch & Birkinshaw,
2008). For example, large firms who spin-out R&D projects acquire new technologies via a
corporate venture capital model (Trott et al., 2015; O’Reilly & Tushman, 2004)) and thereby
achieve higher innovative performance (Michl, Gold & Picot, 2012). An advantage of this
approach is that the firm in question only needs to focus on one activity. A disadvantage is
that difficulties may arise in realizing strategic integration across independent organizations
(Benner & Tushman, 2003). Furthermore, the exploiting firm is in danger of being unable to
respond adequately to environmental changes (competency trap), while the exploring firm
may end up trapped in an endless cycle of search and unrewarding change (Raisch & Birkinshaw,
2008). An example of a company outsourcing one activity is Xerox, which, for example,
developed user-interface and software technologies, but left it to Apple and Microsoft to
implement or exploit them (Tushman, 1996).
Sequential attention
A second approach is paying sequential attention to exploration and exploitation, which
is also called a punctuated equilibrium or organizational vacillation (Boumgarden, Nickerson
& Zenger, 2012). It means focusing on, for example, exploration for a certain period and
then focusing on exploitation for the next period. The advantage of sequential attention is
that it is far less complex to manage one consistent strategy at a time than two inconsistent
alignments simultaneously in the same organization (Gupta, Smith, & Shalley, 2006). While
some scholars describe a punctuated equilibrium as only doing one activity at a time (Gupta
et al., 2006), others see it as emphasizing a certain activity in a certain period (Venkatraman,
Lee, & Iyer, 2007). An example of the punctuated equilibrium is described by (Venkatraman
et al., 2007) with regard to software firms that sequentially focus on developing new software
and then on exploiting this software. An example of this approach is the famous Spanish
restaurant El Bulli which every year is closed for a couple of months to think about and
work on the next new menu.
Structural ambidexterity
This approach proposes dual organizational structures and strategies to separate exploration
and exploitation in the same firm (also known as architectural ambidexterity) (Andriopoulos
& Lewis, 2009). Structural ambidexterity not only proposes dual structures, but also
different competencies, systems, incentives, processes and cultures (Benner & Tushman, 2003;
Simsek, 2009). Using different approaches for exploration and exploitation is essential, since
the two activities involve different learning activities. Exploitation is based on refining knowledge,
while exploration is about finding new knowledge (March, 1991). An advantage of structural
ambidexterity is that structural independence ensures that the distinctive processes,
structures and cultures of exploratory units are not overwhelmed by the culture of the exploitative
units. At the same time, exploitative units can focus on serving existing customers and
engaging in exploitation without the distraction and pressure associated with exploration (Simsek,
2009). A downside is that separating structures and cultures may divide the firm, isolate
units or reduce the coordination between shared efforts (Andriopoulos & Lewis, 2009; Birkinshaw
& Gibson, 2004). Furthermore, units may lose their connection to the firm’s core business,
although this can also be seen as an advantage when units are working on radical