Postcards from the Edge: Local Communities,Global Programs and Boundary Objects

Abstract

This paper considers the limitations of project management tools as boundary objects within dispersed or global programs of teamwork. The concept of boundary object is receiving growing attention in the management literature. These artefacts are argued to provide a basis for negotiation and knowledge exchange between differentiated communities of practice. The paper assesses these claims theoretically and empirically in the context of global projects. Theoretically it draws on the literatures on boundary objects, dispersed work and project management tools and organization. The paper then analyses a case study of a global program in a major computing corporation. The program spanned numerous geographical sites across the US, Europe and Japan as well as several functional communities of practice including production, services, sales, IT and company registry. The method involved interviews with 33 program managers at six sites and analysis of program management devices such as integrated timelines, online status reporting tools and modular roadmaps. The paper argues that in dispersed programs where there is no opportunity for face-to-face interaction, and/or ambiguous lines of authority, project management tools will be ineffectual as boundary objects and prone to avoidance. Boundary objects are inherently limited precisely because of their marginal nature, the effects of which are exacerbated in diverse and dispersed programs.

Keywords

boundary objects project management tools global teams communities of practice

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bacharach, Samuel B. , and Edward J. Lawler 1980 Power and politics in organizations: The social psychology of conflict, coalitions, and bargaining. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass .

Briers, Michael , and Wai Fong Chua 2001 ‘The role of actor-networks and boundary objects in management accounting change: A field study of an implementation of activity-based costing’ . Accounting, Organizations and Society 26: 237-269 .

Brown, John Seely , and Paul Duguid 1991 ‘Organizational learning and communities of practice: Toward a unified view of working, learning and innovation’ . Organization Science 2/1: 40-57 .

Brown, John Seely , and Paul Duguid 2001 ‘Knowledge and organization: A social-practice perspective’ . Organization Science 12/2: 198-213 .

Bryman, Alan E. , Michael J. Bresnen , Janet R. Ford , Alan D. Beardsworth , and E. Theresa Keil 1987 ‘The concept of the temporary system: The case of the construction project’ in Research in the sociology of organizations. N. Di Tomaso and S. B. Bacharach (eds), 5: 253-283. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press .

Cacciatori, Eugenia 2003 ‘Organisational memory in innovative project-based firms: A boundary object perspective’. Paper presented at DRUID Summer Conference, ‘Creating, sharing and transferring knowledge: The role of geographical configuration, institutional settings and organizational contexts’. Copenhagen, Denmark, 12-14 June.

Carlile, Paul R. 2002 ‘A pragmatic view of knowledge and boundaries: Boundary objects in new product development’ . Organization Science 13/4: 442-455 .

Carlile, Paul R. 2004 ‘Transferring, translating and transforming: An integrative framework for managing knowledge across boundaries’ . Organization Science 15/5: 555-568 .

Constant, Edward W. 1987 ‘The social locus of technological practice: Community, system or organisation’ in The social construction of technological systems: New directions in the sociology and history of technology. W. Bijker , T. Hughes , and T. Pinch (eds). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .

10.

Cramton, Catherine D. 2001 ‘The mutual knowledge problem and its consequences for dispersed collaboration’ . Organization Science 12/3: 346-371 .

11.

Cramton, Catherine D. 2002 ‘Finding common ground in dispersed collaboration’ . Organizational Dynamics 30/4: 356-367 .

12.

D’Adderio, Luciana 2004 Inside the virtual product: How organizations create knowledge through software. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar .

13.

Daft, Richard L. , and Robert H. Lengel 1986 ‘Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design’ . Management Science 32/5: 554-571 .

14.

Dean, Burton V. , and Asok K. Chaudhuri 1980 ‘Project scheduling: A critical review’ . TIMS Studies in the Management Sciences 15: 215-233 .

15.

DeSanctis, Gerardine , and Peter Monge 1999 ‘Introduction to the special issue: Communication processes for virtual organizations’ . Organization Science 10/6: 693-703 .

16.

Fujimura, Joan H. 1992 ‘Crafting science: Standardized packages, boundary objects, and “translation”’ in Science as practice and culture. A. Pickering (ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press .

17.

Grabher, Gernot 2002 ‘Cool projects, boring institutions: Temporary collaboration in social context’ . Regional Studies 36/3: 205-214 .

18.

Henderson, Kathryn 1991 ‘Flexible sketches and inflexible data bases: Visual communication, conscription devices, and boundary objects in design engineering’ . Science, Technology, and Human Values 16/4: 448-473 .

19.

Kiesler, Sara , and Jonathon N. Cummings 2002 ‘What do we know about proximity and distance in work groups? A legacy of research’ in Distributed work. P. J. Hinds and S. Kiesler (eds). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .

20.

Lave, Jean 1991 ‘Situated learning in communities of practice’ in L.B.Resnick , J.M Levine ,. and S. Teasley , (eds) Perspectives on socially shared cognition. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association ,.

21.

Lave, Jean , and Etienne Wenger 1991 Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .

22.

Lindkvist, Lars , Jonas Söderlund and Fredrik Tell 1998 ‘Managing product development projects: On the significance of fountains and deadlines’ . Organization Studies 19/6: 931-951 .

23.

March, James G. , and Herbert A. Simon 1958 Organizations. Chichester: John Wiley .

24.

Maznevski, Martha L. , and Katherine M. Chudoba 2000 ‘Bridging space over time: Global virtual team dynamics and effectiveness’ . Organization Science 11/5: 473-492 .

25.

Montoya-Weiss, Mitzi M. , Anne P. Massey , and Michael Song 2001 ‘Getting it together: Temporal coordination and conflict management in global virtual teams’ . Academy of Management Journal 44/6: 1251-1262 .

26.

Morris, Peter W. G. 1994 The management of projects. London: Thomas Telford .

27.

Mortensen, Mark , and Pamela Hinds 2002 ‘Fuzzy teams: Boundary disagreement in distributed and collocated teams’ in Distributed work. P. J. Hinds and S. Kiesler (eds). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .

28.

Nardi, Bonnie A. , and Steve Whittaker 2002 ‘The place of face-to-face communication in distributed work’ in Distributed work. P. J. Hinds and S. Kiesler (eds). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .

29.

Olson, Judith.S. , Stephanie Teasley , Lisa Covi , and Gary Olson 2002 ‘The (currently) unique advantages of collocated work’ in Distributed work. P. J. Hinds and S. Kiesler (eds). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .

30.

Orlikowski, Wanda J. 2002 ‘Knowing in practice: Enacting a collective capability in distributed organizing’ . Organization Science 13/3: 249-273 .

31.

Packendorff, Johann 1995 ‘Inquiring into the temporary organization: New directions for project management research’ . Scandinavian Journal of Management 11/4: 319-333 .

32.

Sapolsky, Harvey M. 1972 The Polaris system development: Bureaucratic and programmatic success in government. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .

33.

Sproull, Lee , and Sara Kiesler 1986 ‘Reducing social context cues: Electronic mail in organizational communication’ . Management Science 32/11: 1492-1512 .

34.

Star, Susan Leigh 1992 ‘The Trojan door: Organizations, work, and the “open black box”’ . Systems Practice, 5: 395-410 .

35.

Star, Susan Leigh , and James R. Griesemer 1989 ‘Institutional ecology, ‘translations’ and boundary objects: Amateurs and professionals in Berkeley’s Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 1907-39)’ . Social Studies of Science 19: 387-420 .

36.

Storper, Michael , and Anthony J. Venables 2003 ‘Buzz: Face-to-face contact and the urban economy’ .Paper presented at the DRUID Summer Conference on ‘Creating, sharing and transferring knowledge: The role of geography, institutions, and organizations’, Copenhagen, 12-14 June 2003.

37.

Strauss, Anselm L. , and Juliet Corbin 1990 Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage .

38.

Thompson, James D. 1967 Organizations in action. New York: McGraw-Hill .

39.

Winch, Graham 1996 ‘Thirty years of project management: What have we learned?’ Paper presented at British Academy of Management conference, Aston, UK.

40.

Yakura, Elaine K. 2002 ‘Charting time: Timelines as temporal boundary objects’ . Academy of Management Journal 45/5: 956-970 .