IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jorgde/v9y2020i1d10.1186_s41469-020-00085-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Design as an interactive boundary object

Author

Listed:
  • Thinley Tharchen

    (Emlyon Business School)

  • Raghu Garud

    (The Pennsylvania State University)

  • Rebecca L. Henn

    (The Pennsylvania State University)

Abstract

What is it about the term ‘design’ that facilitates the emergence of interdisciplinary interactions even though the term may hold different meanings for those involved? To address this question, we analyzed the vocabularies, practices and orders of worth proposed by the members of an interdisciplinary Center for Design. Our analysis revealed similarities and differences in the meanings accorded by these individuals to the term design. The analysis also revealed an awareness on their part that their notions of design were incomplete, and that they had to rely on the inputs of others. Such reflexivity was an important factor in fostering meaningful interactions between these individuals. Based on these findings, we argue that design is an interactive boundary object, which enables different meaning structures to co-exist and co-inform actors from multiple disciplines and domains. Within such a view, the emergence of interactions occurs not despite but because of the diversity of views about the notion of design itself.

Suggested Citation

  • Thinley Tharchen & Raghu Garud & Rebecca L. Henn, 2020. "Design as an interactive boundary object," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 9(1), pages 1-34, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jorgde:v:9:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1186_s41469-020-00085-w
    DOI: 10.1186/s41469-020-00085-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s41469-020-00085-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1186/s41469-020-00085-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Raghu Garud & Michael A. Rappa, 1994. "A Socio-Cognitive Model of Technology Evolution: The Case of Cochlear Implants," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(3), pages 344-362, August.
    2. Rajiv Nag & Donald C. Hambrick & Ming‐Jer Chen, 2007. "What is strategic management, really? Inductive derivation of a consensus definition of the field," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(9), pages 935-955, September.
    3. Armand Hatchuel, 2001. "Towards Design Theory and Expandable Rationality: The Unfinished Program of Herbert Simon," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 5(3), pages 260-273, September.
    4. Lyra J. Colfer & Carliss Y. Baldwin, 2010. "The Mirroring Hypothesis: Theory, Evidence and Exceptions," Harvard Business School Working Papers 10-058, Harvard Business School, revised Jun 2010.
    5. Garud, Raghu & Karnoe, Peter, 2003. "Bricolage versus breakthrough: distributed and embedded agency in technology entrepreneurship," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 277-300, February.
    6. Herbert A. Simon, 1996. "The Sciences of the Artificial, 3rd Edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262691914, December.
    7. Charles C. Snow & Øystein Devik Fjeldstad & Arthur M. Langer, 2017. "Designing the digital organization," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 6(1), pages 1-13, December.
    8. Phanish Puranam & Harbir Singh & Saikat Chaudhuri, 2009. "Integrating Acquired Capabilities: When Structural Integration Is (Un)necessary," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 313-328, April.
    9. Daniel Beunza & David Stark, 2004. "Tools of the trade: the socio-technology of arbitrage in a Wall Street trading room," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 13(2), pages 369-400, April.
    10. Richard M. Burton & Børge Obel, 2018. "The science of organizational design: fit between structure and coordination," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 7(1), pages 1-13, December.
    11. A. Georges L. Romme & Gerard Endenburg, 2006. "Construction Principles and Design Rules in the Case of Circular Design," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(2), pages 287-297, April.
    12. Philipp Tuertscher & Raghu Garud & Arun Kumaraswamy, 2014. "Justification and Interlaced Knowledge at ATLAS, CERN," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(6), pages 1579-1608, December.
    13. Carliss Y. Baldwin & Kim B. Clark, 2000. "Design Rules, Volume 1: The Power of Modularity," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262024667, December.
    14. Raghu Garud & Arun Kumaraswamy & V. Sambamurthy, 2006. "Emergent by Design: Performance and Transformation at Infosys Technologies," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(2), pages 277-286, April.
    15. Roger L. M. Dunbar & William H. Starbuck, 2006. "Learning to Design Organizations and Learning from Designing Them," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(2), pages 171-178, April.
    16. Taylor, Frederick Winslow, 1911. "The Principles of Scientific Management," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number taylor1911.
    17. Davide Nicolini, 2011. "Practice as the Site of Knowing: Insights from the Field of Telemedicine," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(3), pages 602-620, June.
    18. Maja Due Kadenic, 2017. "Transitioning from an economic cluster to a collaborative community: mining projects in Greenland," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 6(1), pages 1-21, December.
    19. Ulrich, Karl, 1995. "The role of product architecture in the manufacturing firm," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 419-440, May.
    20. John Seely Brown & Paul Duguid, 1991. "Organizational Learning and Communities-of-Practice: Toward a Unified View of Working, Learning, and Innovation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 40-57, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. M. Eisenman & S. Paruchuri & P. Puranam, 2020. "The design of emergence in organizations," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 9(1), pages 1-6, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Philipp Tuertscher & Raghu Garud & Arun Kumaraswamy, 2014. "Justification and Interlaced Knowledge at ATLAS, CERN," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(6), pages 1579-1608, December.
    2. Thinley Tharchen & Raghu Garud & Rebecca L. Henn, 2020. "Design as an interactive boundary object," Post-Print hal-03188179, HAL.
    3. Caccamo, Marta & Pittino, Daniel & Tell, Fredrik, 2023. "Boundary objects, knowledge integration, and innovation management: A systematic review of the literature," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    4. Manuel E. Sosa & Jürgen Mihm & Tyson R. Browning, 2013. "Linking Cyclicality and Product Quality," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 15(3), pages 473-491, July.
    5. Garud, Raghu & Gehman, Joel, 2012. "Metatheoretical perspectives on sustainability journeys: Evolutionary, relational and durational," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 980-995.
    6. MacCormack, Alan & Baldwin, Carliss & Rusnak, John, 2012. "Exploring the duality between product and organizational architectures: A test of the “mirroring” hypothesis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(8), pages 1309-1324.
    7. Marlo Raveendran & Phanish Puranam & Massimo Warglien, 2016. "Object Salience in the Division of Labor: Experimental Evidence," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(7), pages 2110-2128, July.
    8. Rahul Kapoor, 2013. "Persistence of Integration in the Face of Specialization: How Firms Navigated the Winds of Disintegration and Shaped the Architecture of the Semiconductor Industry," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 1195-1213, August.
    9. Vikas A. Aggarwal & Brian Wu, 2015. "Organizational Constraints to Adaptation: Intrafirm Asymmetry in the Locus of Coordination," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(1), pages 218-238, February.
    10. Jiang Wei & Yang Yang & Sali Li, 2021. "Mirror or no mirror? Architectural design of cross-border integration of Chinese multinational enterprises," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 1399-1430, December.
    11. Mario Benassi, 2009. "Investigating modular organizations," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 13(3), pages 163-192, August.
    12. Baldwin, Carliss & MacCormack, Alan & Rusnak, John, 2014. "Hidden structure: Using network methods to map system architecture," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(8), pages 1381-1397.
    13. Fleming, Lee & Sorenson, Olav, 2001. "Technology as a complex adaptive system: evidence from patent data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 1019-1039, August.
    14. Yuliya Snihur & Christoph Zott & Raphael (Raffi) Amit, 2021. "Managing the Value Appropriation Dilemma in Business Model Innovation," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(1), pages 22-38, March.
    15. Manuel E. Sosa & Martin Gargiulo & Craig Rowles, 2015. "Can Informal Communication Networks Disrupt Coordination in New Product Development Projects?," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 1059-1078, August.
    16. Raghu Garud & Roger L. M. Dunbar & Caroline A. Bartel, 2011. "Dealing with Unusual Experiences: A Narrative Perspective on Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(3), pages 587-601, June.
    17. Vincent FRIGANT & Stéphanie PERES & Stéphane VIROL, 2012. "How do SMEs to rise at the top of the supply chain? An econometric exploration of the French auto industry (In French)," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2012-16, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    18. Simge Tuna & Stefano Brusoni & Anja Schulze, 2019. "Architectural knowledge generation: evidence from a field study," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 28(5), pages 977-1009.
    19. Ali Marjovi & Behrouz Zarei, 2023. "Design-oriented policy interventions: The case of technology-based international entrepreneurship in emerging context," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 111-142, March.
    20. Raghu Garud & Arun Kumaraswamy & Anna Roberts & Le Xu, 2022. "Liminal movement by digital platform‐based sharing economy ventures: The case of Uber Technologies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 447-475, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jorgde:v:9:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1186_s41469-020-00085-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.