IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wsi/ijitmx/v15y2018i06ns0219877019500056.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Boundary Spanning, Group Heterogeneity and Engineering Project Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Donald O. Wilson

    (Saunders College of Business, Rochester Institute of Technology, 107 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623-5608, USA)

  • John E. Ettlie

    (Saunders College of Business, Rochester Institute of Technology, 107 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623-5608, USA)

Abstract

This study examines the concept of intra-organizational links as a way for boundary spanners to bring into the project group the information needed to deal with task uncertainty. Several studies have shown that heterogeneous groups are superior to homogeneous groups when novel or creative solutions need to be developed to deal with tasks characterized by high task uncertainty. For boundary spanners in engineering project groups, it is proposed that cross-departmental technical advice links are another source of the information needed to deal with task uncertainty. An empirical test supports the proposition that for high-performing project groups, boundary-spanning technical advice links may compensate for a lack of internal group heterogeneity and vice versa. This is not the case for low-performing project groups. Implications of these finding are presented, including the direction that the open innovation research stream might take to address the findings of this study.

Suggested Citation

  • Donald O. Wilson & John E. Ettlie, 2018. "Boundary Spanning, Group Heterogeneity and Engineering Project Performance," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 15(06), pages 1-35, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:ijitmx:v:15:y:2018:i:06:n:s0219877019500056
    DOI: 10.1142/S0219877019500056
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0219877019500056
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1142/S0219877019500056?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li Cai & Qing Liu & Xiaoyu Yu, 2013. "Effects of Top Management Team Heterogeneous Background and Behavioural Attributes on the Performance of New Ventures," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 354-366, May.
    2. Dahlander, Linus & Gann, David M., 2010. "How open is innovation?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 699-709, July.
    3. Schotter, Andreas & Beamish, Paul W., 2011. "Performance effects of MNC headquarters-subsidiary conflict and the role of boundary spanners: The case of headquarter initiative rejection," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 243-259, September.
    4. Peter Moran, 2005. "Structural vs. relational embeddedness: social capital and managerial performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(12), pages 1129-1151, December.
    5. Jonathon N. Cummings, 2004. "Work Groups, Structural Diversity, and Knowledge Sharing in a Global Organization," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(3), pages 352-364, March.
    6. Bill McEvily & Akbar Zaheer, 1999. "Bridging ties: a source of firm heterogeneity in competitive capabilities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(12), pages 1133-1156, December.
    7. van Knippenberg, D.L. & Haslam, S.A. & Platow, M.J., 2007. "Unity through Diversity: Value-in-Diversity Beliefs, Work Group Diversity, and Group Identification," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2007-068-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    8. Richard L. Daft & Robert H. Lengel, 1986. "Organizational Information Requirements, Media Richness and Structural Design," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(5), pages 554-571, May.
    9. Marie Louise Mors, 2010. "Innovation in a global consulting firm: when the problem is too much diversity," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(8), pages 841-872, August.
    10. Joan L. Slepian, 2013. "Cross-Functional Teams And Organizational Learning: A Model And Cases From Telecommunications Operating Companies," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 10(01), pages 1-29.
    11. Manuel E. Sosa, 2011. "Where Do Creative Interactions Come From? The Role of Tie Content and Social Networks," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 1-21, February.
    12. Karen A. Bantel & Susan E. Jackson, 1989. "Top management and innovations in banking: Does the composition of the top team make a difference?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(S1), pages 107-124, June.
    13. Köhler, Christian & Sofka, Wolfgang & Grimpe, Christoph, 2012. "Selective search, sectoral patterns, and the impact on product innovation performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(8), pages 1344-1356.
    14. Frenzen, Jonathan & Nakamoto, Kent, 1993. "Structure, Cooperation, and the Flow of Market Information," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 20(3), pages 360-375, December.
    15. Amrit Tiwana, 2008. "Do bridging ties complement strong ties? An empirical examination of alliance ambidexterity," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 251-272, March.
    16. Tim Minshall & Stefan Kouris & Letizia Mortara & Patrick Schmithausen & David Weiss, 2014. "Developing Infrastructure To Support Open Innovation: Case Studies From The East Of England," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 11(01), pages 1-21.
    17. Bernd Ebersberger & Carter Bloch & Sverre J. Herstad & Els Van De Velde, 2012. "Open Innovation Practices And Their Effect On Innovation Performance," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(06), pages 1-23.
    18. Oliveira, Pedro & von Hippel, Eric, 2011. "Users as service innovators: The case of banking services," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 806-818, July.
    19. Morris A. Cohen & Jehoshua Eliasberg & Teck-Hua Ho, 1996. "New Product Development: The Performance and Time-to-Market Tradeoff," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(2), pages 173-186, February.
    20. Berchicci, Luca, 2013. "Towards an open R&D system: Internal R&D investment, external knowledge acquisition and innovative performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 117-127.
    21. Ray Reagans & Ezra W. Zuckerman, 2001. "Networks, Diversity, and Productivity: The Social Capital of Corporate R&D Teams," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(4), pages 502-517, August.
    22. Denise Fletcher, 1998. ""Swimming Around in Their Own Ponds": The Weakness of Strong Ties in Developing Innovative Practices," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 2(02), pages 137-159.
    23. Wang, Chun-Chieh & Sung, Hui-Yun & Chen, Dar-Zen & Huang, Mu-Hsuan, 2017. "Strong ties and weak ties of the knowledge spillover network in the semiconductor industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 114-127.
    24. Rost, Katja, 2011. "The strength of strong ties in the creation of innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 588-604, May.
    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. Hilda Bø Lyng & Eric Christian Brun, 2020. "Innovating with Strangers; Managing Knowledge Barriers Across Distances in Cross-Industry Innovation," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 17(01), pages 1-33, February.

    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. Daniel Tzabbar & Alex Vestal, 2015. "Bridging the Social Chasm in Geographically Distributed R&D Teams: The Moderating Effects of Relational Strength and Status Asymmetry on the Novelty of Team Innovation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(3), pages 811-829, June.
    2. Hung, Chia-Liang, 2017. "Social networks, technology ties, and gatekeeper functionality: Implications for the performance management of R&D projects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 305-315.
    3. Duong, Phuong-Anh Nguyen & Voordeckers, Wim & Huybrechts, Jolien & Lambrechts, Frank, 2022. "On external knowledge sources and innovation performance: Family versus non-family firms," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    4. Zacharias, Nicolas A. & Daldere, Dace & Winter, Christian G.H., 2020. "Variety is the spice of life: How much partner alignment is preferable in open innovation activities to enhance firms’ adaptiveness and innovation success?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 290-301.
    5. Caroline Danièle Mothe & Thuc Uyen Nguyen-Thi, 2017. "Persistent openness and environmental innovation: An empirical analysis of French manufacturing firms," Post-Print hal-01609129, HAL.
    6. Hong Jiang & Shuyu Sun & Hongtao Xu & Shukuan Zhao & Yong Chen, 2020. "Enterprises' network structure and their technology standardization capability in Industry 4.0," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 749-765, July.
    7. Roman Teplov & Ekaterina Albats & Daria Podmetina, 2019. "What Does Open Innovation Mean? Business Versus Academic Perceptions," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(01), pages 1-33, January.
    8. Robert S. Huckman & Bradley R. Staats, 2008. "Variation in Experience and Team Familiarity: Addressing the Knowledge Acquisition-Application Problem," Harvard Business School Working Papers 09-035, Harvard Business School.
    9. Soda, Giuseppe & Zaheer, Akbar & Sun, Xiaoming & Cui, Wentian, 2021. "Brokerage evolution in innovation contexts: Formal structure, network neighborhoods and knowledge," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(10).
    10. Lutter, Mark, 2014. "Creative success and network embeddedness: Explaining critical recognition of film directors in Hollywood, 1900-2010," MPIfG Discussion Paper 14/11, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    11. Zou, Xi & Ingram, Paul, 2013. "Bonds and boundaries: Network structure, organizational boundaries, and job performance," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 120(1), pages 98-109.
    12. Graciela Corral de Zubielqui & Noel Lindsay & Wendy Lindsay & Janice Jones, 2019. "Knowledge quality, innovation and firm performance: a study of knowledge transfer in SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(1), pages 145-164, June.
    13. Ambos, Tina C. & Ambos, Björn & Eich, Katharina J. & Puck, Jonas, 2016. "Imbalance and Isolation: How Team Configurations Affect Global Knowledge Sharing," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 316-332.
    14. Xiaomin Zhou, 2022. "Moderating Effect of Structural Holes on Absorptive Capacity and Knowledge-Innovation Performance: Empirical Evidence from Chinese Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-13, May.
    15. Hallin, Christina & Holm, Ulf & Sharma, Dharma Deo, 2011. "Embeddedness of innovation receivers in the multinational corporation: Effects on business performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 362-373, June.
    16. Lu, Qinli & Chesbrough, Henry, 2022. "Measuring open innovation practices through topic modelling: Revisiting their impact on firm financial performance," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    17. Montoro-Sanchez, Angeles & Diez-Vial, Isabel & Belso-Martinez, Jose Antonio, 2018. "The evolution of the domestic network configuration as a driver of international relationships in SMEs," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 727-736.
    18. Belik, Ivan & Knudsen, Eirik Sjåholm, 2023. "Link on, Link off: Data-driven management of organizational networks for ambidexterity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    19. Caroline Mothe & Uyen T. Nguyen-Thi & Ángela Triguero, 2018. "Innovative products and services with environmental benefits: design of search strategies for external knowledge and absorptive capacity," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(11), pages 1934-1954, September.
    20. Casanueva, Cristóbal & Castro, Ignacio & Galán, José L., 2013. "Informational networks and innovation in mature industrial clusters," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(5), pages 603-613.

    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:wsi:ijitmx:v:15:y:2018:i:06:n:s0219877019500056. 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: Tai Tone Lim (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.worldscinet.com/ijitm/ijitm.shtml .

    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.