Creativity and routine: conceptual considerations on managing organisational ambidexterity in entrepreneurial ventures

Research on exploitation and exploration in firms has attracted a lot of attention in recent years; however, it seems to have an uneven spread because when it comes to the entrepreneur on an individual level, less research has been undertaken so far. This paper is based on an extensive literature review with a bibliographic analysis approach, in combination with a systematic content analysis. The results give an overview of research streams from an organisational and an individual level of analysis. Based on that, a conceptual framework is presented which links entrepreneurial orientation with entrepreneurial behaviour through a strategic learning process, facilitated through 'opening' and 'closing' behaviours in different organisational setups. This framework offers several avenues for further research, which seems so far to be quite segmented and macro-level oriented.