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
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 17:40 authored by Petros Chamakiotis, Achilleas Boukis, Niki Panteli, Athanasios PapadopoulosIn 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 ManagementISSN
0268-4012Publisher
ElsevierExternal DOI
Volume
50Page range
182-190Department affiliated with
- Management Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2019-04-29First Open Access (FOA) Date
2020-12-13First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2019-04-29Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC