The Transformative Effects of Communication at Boundaries

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Work in modern organizations is increasingly characterized by the presence of different types of boundaries. For example, the adoption of flat organizational forms has created the need for workers to communicate across disciplines and occupations. The diffusion of new communication technologies has coincided with the greater adoption of team structures that span space and time. Globalization has led to the increased importance of bridging cultural boundaries during daily work. Economic factors have focused our gaze on the value to be gained from inter-organizational relationships.

We often conceive of boundaries as barriers that, only when successfully overcome, hold the potential for great benefit. Communication scholars have long recognized that boundaries can be a double edged sword. Successful cross-boundary communication offers the potential for coordinated action, efficiency, organizational adaptation, and the production of new and innovative meaning. Boundaries can also create communicative challenges, such as issues of translating knowledge and negotiating differences in local motives. If these challenges go unmet, they often portend failure at group and organizational levels.

The purpose of this panel is to move beyond a notion of boundaries as hurdles to success. Instead, we encourage a perspective that views boundaries themselves as catalysts for organizational change. Such an approach recognizes that, regardless of the success or failure of bridging efforts, boundaries often occasion communicative practices that are not present in “within boundary” contexts. When facing a boundary, individuals often modify their work in interesting ways and these modifications can produce emergent consequences for the ongoing process of organizing.

To illustrate this perspective, we have collected four studies examining communication at different types of boundaries, including disciplinary, occupational, technologically mediated, intercultural, and inter-organizational boundaries. The studies span levels of analysis, ranging from micro-level interactions to inter-organizational and international relationships. Importantly, the papers provide empirical examples of both “successful” and “failed” boundary spanning. What each of these papers holds in common, however, is a discussion of how the communication occurring at a boundary led to broader organizational consequences.

By presenting such a diverse collection of work, we hope to spark a discussion with the audience about the changing nature of work in modern organizations. If the presence of boundaries is enough to transform organizing, we would do well to understand the broader patterns emergent from these processes. Such an understanding may lead us to question our stance toward boundary spanning by recognizing that cross-boundary communication may engender unintended consequences for organizational practice.

Sub Unit

• Organizational Communication

Chair

• William Barley, Northwestern U

Individual Presentations

• Understanding Participation Patterns in Global Teams and How They Lead to Meaningful Engagement Across Boundaries - Jennifer L. Gibbs, Rutgers U; Cristina B. Gibson, U of Western Australia; Yana V. Grushina, U of Tuebingen

• “We’re Not a Job Shop": Strategically Managing Mixed Motives at Disciplinary Boundaries - William Barley, Northwestern U

• Boundaries in a Knowledge Network: Meta-Organizational Design and Knowledge Collaboration - Marlous Agterberg, VU U - Amsterdam; Bart J. van den Hooff, VU University Amsterdam

• Implicit and Explicit Boundaries in Large-Scale Nonprofit Collaboration - Katherine R Cooper, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

Respondent

• Gina Neff, U of Washington