Exploration or exploitation? A comparative analysis of organizational slack and technological environmental dynamism in external knowledge searches

Purpose Since the knowledge search process centers on managing distinctive and valuable resources while leveraging a particular technological context, the influences of organizational slack and environmental dynamism on exploration and exploitation have been extensively studied. However, empirical evidence on organizational slack and environmental dynamism has largely developed separately, and little is known about their relative importance and the joint impact on knowledge search. This study aims to compare the different impacts of organizational slack, technological environmental dynamism, and their combined effects on exploratory and exploitative knowledge search, thereby deepening the understanding of related knowledge. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on survey data from 243 high-tech firms, this study applies multiple hierarchical regression analyses to contrast the relative impacts of organizational slack and the frequency and unpredictability of technological changes in the environment on exploratory and exploitative knowledge searches. It also compares the interactive effects of organizational slack and technological environmental dynamism on these knowledge search processes. Findings The empirical analysis demonstrates that technological environmental dynamism exercises more influence on exploratory knowledge search relative to organizational slack. The study also finds that exploratory knowledge search is facilitated more by the interplay of slack resources and technological environmental dynamism than exploitative knowledge search. Originality/value Hence, they provide a clear explanation regarding how to craft a firm’s strategic choice between exploratory and exploitative knowledge search in different configurations of organizational slack and technological environmental dynamism.