%0 Journal Article
	%A D. Gåsvaer and  L. Stålberg and  A. Fundin and  M. Jackson and  P. Johansson
	%D 2015
	%J International Journal of Economics and Management Engineering
	%B World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
	%I Open Science Index 104, 2015
	%T Exploration and Exploitation within Operations
	%U https://publications.waset.org/pdf/10001719
	%V 104
	%X Exploration and exploitation capabilities are both
important within Operations as means for improvement when
managed separately, and for establishing dynamic improvement
capabilities when combined in balance. However, it is unclear what
exploration and exploitation capabilities imply in improvement and
development work within an Operations context. So, in order to
better understand how to develop exploration and exploitation
capabilities within Operations, the main characteristics of these
constructs needs to be identified and further understood. Thus, the
objective of this research is to increase the understanding about
exploitation and exploration characteristics, to concretize what they
translates to within the context of improvement and development
work in an Operations unit, and to identify practical challenges. A
literature review and a case study are presented. In the literature
review, different interpretations of exploration and exploitation are
portrayed, key characteristics have been identified, and a deepened
understanding of exploration and exploitation characteristics is
described. The case in the study is an Operations unit, and the aim is
to explore to what extent and in what ways exploration and
exploitation activities are part of the improvement structures and
processes. The contribution includes an identification of key
characteristics of exploitation and exploration, as well as an
interpretation of the constructs. Further, some practical challenges are
identified. For instance, exploration activities tend to be given low
priority, both in daily work as in the manufacturing strategy. Also,
the overall understanding about the concepts of exploitation and
exploration (or any similar aspect of dynamic improvement
capabilities) is very low.
	%P 2666 - 2671