Abstract
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.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 182-190 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | International Journal of Information Management |
Volume | 50 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Feb 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Petros Chamakiotis is a Lecturer in Information Systems at the University of Sussex Business School, University of Sussex, UK and the Chair of the IFIP WG 9.5 ‘Virtuality & Society’. He earned his PhD from the University of Bath with the support of an EPSRC scholarship, and was earlier with Royal Holloway, University of London. His research focuses on the management of connectivity and digitally enabled environments, such as virtual teams and online communities. He has published in relevant journals, including Creativity & Innovation Management, Information Technology & People and New Technology, Work & Employment .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd
Keywords
- Fuzzy front-end
- Innovation
- Temporal coordination
- Virtual teams
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Information Systems
- Computer Networks and Communications
- Library and Information Sciences