The role of temporal coordination for the fuzzy front-end of innovation in virtual teams

Petros Chamakiotis, Achilleas Boukis, Niki Panteli, Thanos Papadopoulos*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

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 languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)182-190
Number of pages9
JournalInternational Journal of Information Management
Volume50
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 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

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