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以實質選擇權觀點探討探索性與利用性活動對公司績效之影響：中介效果模型
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3.2 Dependent and Independent Variables
Performance
. Exploration and exploitation activities have been assumed to impact firm
performance in different ways and over different time periods (Uotila et al., 2009). The
influence of exploration on firm performance is far more distant while exploitation has a
more instant impact, causing difficulties in measuring the effects of these two activities. We
addressed this problem by employing a lag structure methodology to capture the long-run
effects of prior exploration efforts. Employing a lag structure into our model allowed us to
operationalize both short-term and long-term performance effects using a single account-
based performance variable. We used return on assets (ROA) as the indicator of a firm’s
performance. We defined ROA as earnings before interest, depreciation, taxes and,
amortization (EBIDTA), divided by total assets. This is the standard measure of operating
performance in strategy research (Baliga, Moyer, and Rao, 1996; Zajac, Kraatz, and Bresser,
2000).
Exploration and Exploitation
. Following previous researchers (Katila and Ahuja,
2002; He and Wong, 2004), we regarded exploration and exploitation as two distinct
dimensions rather than ends of a continuum. Exploration was defined as exploratory
investments which involved search, discovery, experimentation, and risk taking (March,
1991). Exploitation was characterized by exploitative investments regarding refinement,
implementation, efficiency, and production (March, 1991). We used R&D intensity (R&D
expenses divided by net sales) as the measure of exploration and capital intensity (capital
expenditures (CAPEX) divided by fixed assets) to measure exploitation.
Some readers might consider that R&D and capital investments include both
exploratory and exploitative activities, and may not be appropriate to measure exploration
and exploitation respectively. As we focused on how firms allocate resources under
uncertainty, we attempted to differentiate between exploration and exploitation by focusing
on the amount of exploring new possibilities in different business functions to examine how
exploration and exploitation can be balanced over domains within a firm. We admit that
some types of exploratory investments such as local exploration (Rosenkopf and Nerkar,
2001) may skew quite close to exploitative activities and vice versa. However, given that our
field interviews with executives in the semiconductor industry convinced us that R&D
expenditures contain much more exploratory activities than do capital expenditures, we
believe these two measures are distinguished in terms of exploratory nature.
For the following analysis, we defined “current exploration” as exploration in a given
year. We defined “prior exploration,” as exploration in the years preceding the current
exploration.