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IJIM paper 17 April 2019 FINAL.pdf (667.24 kB)

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

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posted on 2023-06-09, 17:40 authored by Petros Chamakiotis, Achilleas Boukis, Niki Panteli, Athanasios Papadopoulos
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-hour lifespan, and one with a five-month lifespan—from two Industry-Academia open innovation 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.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

International Journal of Information Management

ISSN

0268-4012

Publisher

Elsevier

Volume

50

Page range

182-190

Department affiliated with

  • Management Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2019-04-29

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2020-12-13

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2019-04-29

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