Exploration, Exploitation, and Public Sector Innovation: An Organizational Learning Perspective for the Public Sector

Innovation in the public sector has long been criticized for its failure to fulfill expectations of higher efficiency and better service. Scholars have reported disappointing results in implementing successful innovations. In this article, we develop a conceptual framework that emphasizes organizations’ capacity to maintain balance between new innovations and refinement of existing knowledge. We use the concept of exploration and exploitation, commonly applied to private organizations, to analyze public sector innovation. We explain the dynamics of government innovations in social welfare policy in terms of a balance between the two modes of organizational learning and the challenges of balancing them.