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Crowding at the frontier: boundary spanners, gatekeepers and knowledge brokers

Author

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  • Aurore Haas

    (DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

Our work contributes to defining the concepts of boundary spanner, gatekeeper and knowledge broker witth a review of the literature covering more than 100 sources. We find that review of past research allows to propose a set of new definitions and also to the detection of 5 research avenues.The ability of organizations to recognize, source and integrate key outside information or knowledge is important for their strategy, innovation and performance over time. Three types of individuals have information gathering and knowledge dissemination roles at the frontier of organizations: boundary spanners, gatekeepers and knowledge brokers. Although research on these individuals is well developed, we found that in practice the definitions of the concepts overlap and still need a clarification. So far, no systematic comparison of these roles has been undertaken.

Suggested Citation

  • Aurore Haas, 2015. "Crowding at the frontier: boundary spanners, gatekeepers and knowledge brokers," Post-Print hal-02313832, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02313832
    DOI: 10.1108/JKM-01-2015-0036
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Aziz Ariwibowo & Adi Afiff & Riani Rachmawati & Ratih Kusumastuti, 2024. "The impact of boundary spanning activities and resource orchestration in improving performance of Indonesian state-owned bank branches," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Karimikia, Hadi & Bradshaw, Robert & Singh, Harminder & Ojo, Adegboyega & Donnellan, Brian & Guerin, Michael, 2022. "An emergent taxonomy of boundary spanning in the smart city context – The case of smart Dublin," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    3. Miikka J. Lehtonen & Ainomaija Haarla & Masaaki Kotabe, 0. "Beyond the inflection point: how and why individuals promote inventions in Japan," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 0, pages 1-25.
    4. Ardito, Lorenzo & Ferraris, Alberto & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio & Bresciani, Stefano & Del Giudice, Manlio, 2019. "The role of universities in the knowledge management of smart city projects," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 312-321.
    5. Abdelkader Daghfous & Omar Belkhodja, 2019. "Managing Talent Loss in the Procurement Function: Insights from the Hospitality Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-19, November.
    6. Cheng-Hua Tzeng, 2021. "Executing absorptive capacity: a case study of spillover utilization by a domestic firm in China’s hotel industry," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(3), pages 409-434, July.
    7. Maria Schiller, 2022. "Urban planners as boundary spanners: Steering perceptions of asylum seeker accommodations in Germany," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 40(3), pages 763-778, May.
    8. Miikka J. Lehtonen & Ainomaija Haarla & Masaaki Kotabe, 2020. "Beyond the inflection point: how and why individuals promote inventions in Japan," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(5), pages 505-529, November.
    9. Yanyan Liu & Ying Cheng & Wei Liu, 2018. "Understanding Gatekeeping Transformation in the Chinese EV Industry: An Exploratory Study of the Focal Firms' Cross-industrial Interactions," Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems - scientific journal, Croatian Interdisciplinary Society Provider Homepage: http://indecs.eu, vol. 16(3-B), pages 485-503.
    10. Eleanor MacKillop & Andrew Connell & James Downe & Hannah Durrant, 2023. "Making sense of knowledge-brokering organisations: boundary organisations or policy entrepreneurs?," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 50(6), pages 950-960.
    11. Jutta Günther & Dirk Meissner, 2017. "Clusters as Innovative Melting Pots?—the Meaning of Cluster Management for Knowledge Diffusion in Clusters," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 8(2), pages 499-512, June.
    12. Chiambaretto, Paul & Massé, David & Mirc, Nicola, 2019. "“All for One and One for All?” - Knowledge broker roles in managing tensions of internal coopetition: The Ubisoft case," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 584-600.
    13. Philip Müller & Martin Franz, 2019. "Transnational labour migration and the offshoring of knowledge-intensive business services within global production networks: The case of a German automotive company in Turkey," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 51(6), pages 1350-1369, September.
    14. Yingchao Lan & Deepa Goradia & Aravind Chandrasekaran, 2022. "Ancillary Cost Implications of Physicians Multisiting and Inter‐Organizational Collaboration During Healthcare Delivery," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(2), pages 561-582, February.
    15. Anna Yström & Marine Agogué & Romain Rampa, 2021. "Preparing an Organization for Sustainability Transitions—The Making of Boundary Spanners through Design Training," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-17, July.
    16. Li He & Yang Cheng & Xuejie Su, 2020. "Research on the Sustainability of the Enterprise Business Ecosystem from the Perspective of Boundary: The China Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-16, August.
    17. Paul Chiambaretto & David Massé & Nicola Mirc, 2019. "“All for One and One for All?” - Knowledge broker roles in managing tensions of internal coopetition: The Ubisoft case," Post-Print hal-02104540, HAL.

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