From Closed to Open Innovation: The Evolving Nature of Teams and the Use of Information Technology - Information Technology and Product Development - page 137

7.3.4.2 Boundary Spanning
As organizations adapt their innovation business models to meet demands, bound-
aries blur between teams, organizations, and industries. Communication is no longer
simply intra-organizational but has expanded to capture both at the intra- and inter-
organizational levels with permeability among them (Smulders et al., 2002; Yan &
Loius, 1999). As innovation models become more open, the role of boundaries and
the interfaces between them become increasingly important. Organizations, once
defined by their boundaries, will be defined by their connectivity, or “the range
and number of connections to the outside environment” (Mulgan & Briscoe, 2003).
Individuals operating at the periphery or boundary of a permeable organization, or
“boundary spanners” will be responsible for relating the organization with elements
outside it.
7.3.4.3 Connecting Team Members
The common denominator among collocated, virtual, or global teams is how knowl-
edge is applied to an innovation and how IT is used to enhance innovation success.
Both core and peripheral members of a teammust be connected, though the level and
amount of required connectedness may vary per individual, role, and circumstance.
As the open innovation team becomes increasingly physically distributed, mem-
bers rely more on IT to bring them together using a bundle of technologies to achieve
project goals. Interconnectedness in an open innovation team is often achieved
through digital technology. Members may never actually meet face-to-face and
are often together only once, for the length of a project. Advances in technology
increase the ability of firms to work across geographic and organizational bound-
aries, supporting the “shift toward more open, collaborative, and network-centered
innovation practices” (Dodgson et al., 2006). This makes IT an important and inte-
gral part of the open innovation team and its relevance and importance are worth
noting.
7.3.5 Team Management
The shift to open innovation is one that occurs throughout the organization. While
we have discussed many of the benefits that can take place through permeable
organizational boundaries, challenges also arise. Fundamentally, open innovation
is about operating in a world of abundant knowledge in which a firm must recog-
nize that "not all the smart people work for you" (Callahan, 2003). This creates a
need for management to find those with the needed resources, to connect to them,
and to build upon what they can do. But bringing in outsiders is not always easy,
as corporate cultures can clash and some outsiders just simply do not conform well
to working in a business environment (Vaitheeswaran, 2007). In addition, manage-
ment must find ways to leverage and build upon external knowledge, fill in gaps
internally, and integrate both internal and external knowledge usefully.