Corporate strategy: an agent-based approach

In this paper, we explore the application of the construct exploitation and exploration at the level of the corporate strategy of the firm. For that purpose, we operationalized and formalized the analysis through the development of a set of agent-based simulations which capture and describe the evolution of firms led by exploitative and explorative corporate strategies in business environments showing different levels of complexity. Results indicate that the relative performances of exploitative strategies vs those characterized by an opportunistic combination of exploitation and exploration, are contingent on the characteristics of the environment in which the firm operates and the quality of the corporate strategic plans that determine the initial strategic positioning of the firm. European Management Review (2007) 4, 107-120. doi:10.1057/palgrave.emr.1500077