Antecedents and Outcomes of Exploitative and Explorative Capabilities in the Innovation Process of Korean Born Globals

The study investigated the role of exploitative and explorative capabilities in the innovation process: 1) how exploitative and explorative capabilities are influenced by international entrepreneurial orientation (proactiveness, risk-taking, and innovativeness); and 2) how exploitative and explorative capabilities affect new product differentiation as the outcome of innovation. Building on the previous research, the study tested a research model using path analysis for the data collected from 192 Korean born globals. The results indicated that, among the three international entrepreneurial orientation variables, only proactiviness positively affected exploitative and explorative capabilities as a key antecedent. Exploitative capabilities were found to be negatively associated with explorative capabilities. While the positive relationship between explorative capabilities and new product differentiation was not supported, exploitative capabilities were revealed to positively influence an innovation outcome variable, new product differentiation. Discussion, implications, limitation, and future direction of this study were further suggested