Balancing exploitation and exploration: activation triggers and absorptive capacity in quality and sustainability integration

Other conference contribution, 2026

The integration of responsibilities for quality and sustainability in one role is becoming common, however how such integration unfolds in practice remains underexplored. This paper examines how practitioners in such roles use activation triggers to catalyse absorptive capacity that renders both exploitative and explorative approaches to integration. The study analyses how external and internal activation triggers shape integration differently with dominance of externally imposed triggers such as regulations and certifications driving exploitative integration. Explorative integration emerges more indirectly, through boundary‑spanning and cross-functional activities, highlighting the importance of internal activation triggers to enable learning, reflection, and eventually exploratory approaches.