The exploration–exploitation tension has been resonated and applied in diverse areas of management research. Its applications have deviated substantially from the scope of organisational learning as originally proposed by March [(1991). Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. Organization Science, 2(1), 71–87]. Scholars have developed set of definitions, new conceptualisations, and varied applications in rejuvenating the concept; and literatures on this topic seem do not significantly ensure a conclusive picture. It is still also unclear what are the antecedents and following scientific breakthroughs which may have led to the divergence of this construct. This study offers an added value as it becomes the first to apply a bibliometric analysis, combined with fine-grained content analysis to attain a more comprehensive understanding on how the construct of exploration–exploitation have grown and evolved during the last 20 years. We attempt to grasp the structural pattern of citing behaviour and collective understanding among scholars, through conducting in-depth bibliographic review in a complete population of articles on this topic, published in leading journals following March [(1991). Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. Organization Science, 2(1), 71–87]. This study identifies the intellectual base articles which form the basis of the exploration–exploitation and the turning point articles that shift the discussion into different directions.

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Purpose This study aims to explore the extent to which inter-organizational hybrid governance manages the micro design for optimum reverse knowledge transfer in the open innovation context. The authors use two essential facets of micro design in hybrid governance: product adaptation and integration mechanism. Design/methodology/approach Data for this study were collected from franchisees through structured questionnaires in Indonesia. Findings Results indicated that product adaptation has a positive relationship with reverse knowledge transfer. This study also found that the formalization strengthens the relationship between product adaptation and reverse knowledge transfer. However, the socialization does not have a moderation effect. Research limitations/implications This research estimates the knowledge transfer from the agent’s side only. Therefore, further research is expected to estimate the reverse knowledge transfer in dyads (from agent and principal) to get a detailed understanding of reverse knowledge transfer. Practical implications This study offers guidelines to managers, especially in inter-organizational hybrid governance. The authors suggest reverse knowledge transfer as a form to manage the dispersed knowledge from their agents. Governing institutions should change their view that agents have diverse knowledgebase from experience adapting to local conditions and can improve their open innovation through reverse knowledge transfer. From the results, it is found that giving agents the flexibility to adapt products can boost reverse knowledge transfer to support open innovation. Originality/value This study provides an understanding of the utilization of external knowledge sourcing in the context of open innovation from agent to principal in hybrid governance through reverse knowledge transfer, which has thus far been empirically under-researched.

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The concept of organizational ambidexterity has been resonated and applied in diverse areas of management research. When establishing its strategic direction, research institutions are confronted with strategic tradesoffs, namely balancing the right amounts of exploration of new knowledge and exploitation of existing knowledge in their research orientation. We investigate this trade-off by building on the notion that research institution need to reconcile the paradoxical demands of exploitation and exploration in their orientation. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of social network, funding, and productive organizational energy on knowledge exploration, knowledge exploitation and the capability of organizational ambidexterity in the context of research institution. A sample of 130 research institutions such as laboratory, study center and training center was collected through questionnaire survey. We tested the hypotheses using Partial Least Square (PLS). Findings of the study indicate that social network and funding are positively related to knowledge exploration and exploitation. However, productive organizational energy has no positive effect on knowledge exploration and exploitation. It is also confirmed that knowledge exploration and knowledge exploitation have a significant influence on the capability of organizational ambidexterity, but knowledge exploitation has a dominant role on that effect. Keywords