In times of significant environmental change, be it in the specific industry
context (i.e. competition), the institutional environment (e.g. increasing
environmental-protection regulations), or the extra-institutional environment (e.g.
scientific advances or ecological awareness), these firms will need to find ways of
fulfilling two requirements (March, 1991). In order to survive environmental change they
need to “engage in enough exploitation to ensure the organization’s current viability and
engage in enough exploration to ensure its future viability” (Levinthal and March, 1993,
p. 105).