Disentangling the antecedents of ambidexterity: Exploration and exploitation

•We test for integrative and differentiating predictors of exploration and exploitation in a sample of 422 SMEs in the UK.•Continuous Improvement is a common predictor of exploitation, exploration and ambidexterity.•Top Management Team composition drives exploitation, exploration and ambidexterity.•More surprisingly, R&D investments do not contribute for firms’ exploitation.•Written vision as a way of communicating priorities makes little difference to exploration.