활용과 탐색의 연구동향 분석 및 향후 연구과제 제시: LDA 분석을 중심으로

This study analyzes the trends in exploitation and exploration research in South Korea over approximately 30 years since March (1991) introduced these concepts. We collected 184 papers indexed in the Korea Citation Index (KCI) and applied Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling techniques.The analysis identified five major research topics, with ”Corporate Innovation and Capabilities” (58 papers, 31.5%) and ”Organizational Innovation Strategy” (46 papers, 25.0%) being the most prominent. Temporal analysis reveals that 44.6% of all papers were published in the recent five years (2021-2025), with a notable surge in digital technology-related research, including ”Digital Transformation and AI Education” (36 papers, 19.6%) and “Machine Learning and Predictive Models” (34 papers, 18.5%). A systematic literature review of 70 key papers revealed that quantitative research (75.7%) dominates, with a heavy concentration on organizational-level studies (75.7%) and manufacturing industries (65.7%). This study provides several practical implications for business management. First, firms should pursue both short-term performance and long-term innovation through strategic ambidextrous management. Second, in the digital transformation era, companies need to balance the exploitation of existing technologies with the exploration of emerging technologies. Third, organizations must strategically manage innovation outcomes and dynamically adjust exploitation-exploration strategies based on environmental changes. This research contributes to the literature by providing the first comprehensive and systematic overview of 30 years of exploitation and exploration research in Korea, offering actionable insights for both academics and practitioners. The findings highlight the growing importance of ambidexterity in navigating digital transformation, managing innovation portfolios, and achieving sustainable competitive advantage in uncertain environments.