A time to explore, a time to exploit: The role of universities in the development of SMEs’ search capabilities

The improvement of search capabilities may provide a decisive contribution to innovation development carried out by SMEs. Although the prevalence of SMEs in many countries and their role in the related National Innovation Systems, few studies have already analyzed how SMEs can effectively implement explorative and exploitative search strategies. The present paper evaluates how SME exploration and exploitation may be affected by their collaborations with PROs. Through the analysis of 1,725 patents developed by 150 non-academic SMEs from 1998 to 2007, this study shows that patents co-developed with universities are characterized by higher exploration and lower exploitation. Nevertheless, after the conclusion of collaborations with universities, SMEs tend to increase exploitation, while reducing exploration. These results confirm SMEs’ difficulty to implement simultaneous ambidexterity, while collaborations with universities seem to support the adoption of a form of sequential ambidexterity aligned with the punctuated equilibrium theory. Thus, the present paper provides several theoretical contributions to the literature on SME search strategies, collaborations between universities and SMEs, and sequential ambidexterity. This study presents also some useful practical insights for SME managers and policymakers interested in the Triple Helix model