Setting Priorities for Exploiting and Exploring Digital Capabilities in a Crisis

Organizations' digital capabilities are often central to their survival of a crisis. In times of crisis, IT leaders must decide whether to exploit their current digital capabili-ties ("making the best of what you have,") explore new capability development ("do new things or better things") or do both. Based on an in-depth study of COVID-19 crisis responses of 18 Australian organizations, we recommend how IT leaders should prioritize exploitative or explorative capability development and best position their organizations for the next crisis.1