Shifting From Knowledge Exploitation to Knowledge Exploration in New Product Development: A Case Study on Haier Washing Machine

Balance of exploration and exploitation is an important decision making problem in recent literatures. However, the role of time and the change mechanisms are lack of research. This paper conducted in-depth interviews with two product project managers and one manager in R&D department of washing machine business unit in Haier group. After the analysis of the innovation stage, comparative analysis in innovation, strategy, organization, performance and time, we find 5 propositions: find 5 propositions: 1) from knowledge exploitation to exploration is a process across innovation cycle, which can generate continuous innovation; 2) from knowledge exploitation to exploration is a process from strategic defender to strategic analyzer; 3) SBU management and R&D collaboration will be introduced in the period from exploitation to exploration; 4) the business performance during period from exploitation to exploration will be an inverted U shape; 5) the time of product search across exploitation and exploration is much longer than the time of product search in one learning mode.