Environmental antecedents and their influence on the tension between exploration and exploitation - The case of sustainability as a special example of environmental dynamism in the context of a technology-driven company

Abstract: Title: Environmental antecedents and their influence on the tension between exploration and exploitation: The case of sustainability as a special example of environmental dynamism in the context of a technology-driven company Research question: How does sustainability as a special case of environmental dynamism influence managerial and organizational antecedents and thereby the tension of exploration and exploitation within a technology-driven company? Methodology: The research was conducted as a single-case study in an international composite core material company. This case study is characterized by pursuing the qualitative research approach, which follows mainly the inductive paradigm, however, some deductive elements were used as well. Therefore, the theory was inductively derived from data, which was primarily collected through conducting semi- structured interviews. Theoretical perspectives: This thesis focuses on the concept of environmental antecedents and their influences on the tension between exploration and exploitation. Therefore, the study examines how sustainability as a special case of environmental dynamism, which is a subcategory of environmental antecedents, influences the mentioned tension by provoking changes in the trade-off of a firm to support either exploration or exploitation. The aim is to contribute by providing a framework to increase the understanding of the relation between environmental antecedents and the tension of exploration and exploitation. Conclusions: By providing empirical evidence to this field of research, the most valuable contribution of this thesis is to analyze the interrelation between environmental antecedents and the tension of exploration and exploitation by using qualitative research methods. In addition, the study reveals the necessity for taking on a holistic perspective in the case of research in this field, based on the identified interplay of different kinds of antecedents, mainly environmental, organizational and, managerial. Finally, sustainability as a special case of environmental dynamism requires certain actions from companies to enable them to benefit from seizing opportunities provided by the topic of sustainability. Therefore, to evoke the potential of sustainability, organizational and managerial changes are required, especially in order for the explorative attitude of sustainability to come into effect. Thus, it calls for a holistic integration.