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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of temporal coordination for the fuzzy front-end of innovation in virtual teams
AU - Chamakiotis, Petros
AU - Boukis, Achilleas
AU - Panteli, Niki
AU - Papadopoulos, Thanos
PY - 2020/2/28
Y1 - 2020/2/28
N2 - In this paper, we study the role of temporal coordination in managing the early stages of innovation (aka fuzzy front-end) in the context of virtual teams. Following a comparative case study approach, we detail the role of temporal coordination through the study of two contrasting virtual teams—one with a 24-h lifespan, and one with a five-month lifespan—from two Industry-Academia collaboration projects. Our approach was longitudinal capturing virtual team activities from start to end of each project, and involved multiple data collection methods, including observations and interviews. The findings reveal that the virtual team lifespan influences the type of temporal coordination that emerges. In virtual teams with short lifespans, tight coordination with frequent communication can help to reduce the uncertainty characterizing the fuzzy front-end. On the other hand, in virtual teams with longer lifespans, loose coordination allows dispersed members to work simultaneously on different, complementary aspects of the task at hand. These findings extend scholarly understanding around how innovation activities are coordinated in technology-mediated environments, such as virtual teams. Finally, we discuss theoretical and managerial implications.
AB - In this paper, we study the role of temporal coordination in managing the early stages of innovation (aka fuzzy front-end) in the context of virtual teams. Following a comparative case study approach, we detail the role of temporal coordination through the study of two contrasting virtual teams—one with a 24-h lifespan, and one with a five-month lifespan—from two Industry-Academia collaboration projects. Our approach was longitudinal capturing virtual team activities from start to end of each project, and involved multiple data collection methods, including observations and interviews. The findings reveal that the virtual team lifespan influences the type of temporal coordination that emerges. In virtual teams with short lifespans, tight coordination with frequent communication can help to reduce the uncertainty characterizing the fuzzy front-end. On the other hand, in virtual teams with longer lifespans, loose coordination allows dispersed members to work simultaneously on different, complementary aspects of the task at hand. These findings extend scholarly understanding around how innovation activities are coordinated in technology-mediated environments, such as virtual teams. Finally, we discuss theoretical and managerial implications.
KW - Fuzzy front-end
KW - Innovation
KW - Temporal coordination
KW - Virtual teams
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2019.04.015
DO - 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2019.04.015
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85066984444
VL - 50
SP - 182
EP - 190
JO - International Journal of Information Management
JF - International Journal of Information Management
SN - 0268-4012
ER -