Lernen von Nachhaltigkeit: Exploration und Exploitation als Lernmodi einer vollständig ambidextren Organisation

Organizations that intend to become more sustainable are challenged to learn in social, ecological and economic dimensions simultaneously. Research so far has not acknowledged that within each of these dimensions (learning areas) the learning processes of exploration and exploitation occur. The paper addresses this research gap and discusses the paradoxical tensions that occur between explorative and exploitative sustainability learning. First, we show how exploration and exploitation can be understood as modes of learning of sustainability und develop a typology of sustainable ambidextrous organizations. Second, we discuss how organizations and their leaders can cope with the paradoxes of learning that occur when organizations learn to be more sustainable.