Continuity and change in theories of organizational action

Most theories of adaptation assume that effective learning requires a balance between exploration and exploitation but that such a balance is continually threatened by tendencies for both exploration and exploitation to be self-reinforcing. I tell a morality tale within such a frame about the past forty years in the study of organizations. The tale emphasizes the struggle of students of organizational action to maintain a rough balance between openness and discipline, thus proclaiming both the possibility of a balanced virtue and its rewards-a truly romantic story.(.)