2.5.1 On the exact location of cross-organizational knowledge transformation
One reason for the abovementioned lack of research may be that it is unclear where exactly one should observe knowledge transformation across organizational boundaries take place. While cross-functional within-organizational settings (e.g. new product development, IT system development) are prevalent in single firms, interorganizational networks do not render themselves easily for such detailed observation. However, recent literature on strategic management suggests that interorganizational settings where strategy processes are developed collaboratively could act as a fruitful venue for observing knowledge transformation across organizational boundaries. Maguire and Hardy call such settings “collaborative strategy” and define the concept as follows:
“Collaborative strategy involves an ongoing cooperative relationship among organizations. Rather than relying on market and hierarchical mechanisms of control, it is negotiated in an ongoing communicative process --- It takes a variety of forms, including consortia, alliances, roundtables, networks and associations, but is distinguished from cooperation that is purchased, as in the case of a firm’s relationships with its suppliers, as well as cooperation based on authority, as in the case of an organization operating under the jurisdiction of a regulatory agency”
(Maguire & Hardy, 2005:12)
This collaborative strategy view of interorganizational networks both embraces the view of networks as informal cooperative arrangements between organizations and stresses the nature of collaboration as a communicative process. Thus, the view is in line with both the earlier discussed literatures on interorganizational networks and knowledge processes at boundaries. As such, the concept of collaborative strategy is helpful in focusing attention to situations where the participants of interorganizational networks come together to discuss issues that are important to each party. However, the concept of collaborative strategy does not specify the situations where the collaborations should take place.
2.5.2 Strategy process development workshops
Strategy researchers have long been interested in how strategies are crafted and implemented in organizations. This stream of strategy research, often dubbed strategy process research (Chakravarthy & Doz, 1992), has informed us on how strategies are
issues, such as changes in an organization’s environment are addressed (Ansoff, 1980), and how strategic business exits come about (Burgelman, 1994). The scope of strategy process research is rather broad, encompassing investigations ranging from managers’
cognitions (Barr, Stimpert, & Huff, 1992; Ginsberg & Venkatraman, 1992) to internationalization of firms (Melin, 1992) and market-technology linkages (Dougherty, 1992b; Leonard-Barton, 1992). Strategy process research on market-technology linkages is useful from the viewpoint of this dissertation – combined with research on collaborative strategy (Maguire & Hardy, 2005), the literature on how firms link markets and technologies provides some useful notions for identifying the locus of knowledge transformation in collaborative strategy. For example, Leonard-Barton (1992) describes process development settings as visible arenas for observing how innovations emerge, and Dougherty (1992b) stresses the importance of aligning knowledge practices across boundaries for innovation. Similarly, Smeds and Alvesalo (2003) point out that process development projects aim to align existing work practices with new process structures by enabling the negotiation of differing meanings among participants. Based on these notions, I define the concept of collaborative strategy process development as follows:
Collaborative strategy process development occurs in events where individuals from different organizations and organizational units, representing different specializations, come together to discuss current and/or future management processes of strategic importance, and in the process of doing so negotiate differences and align their practice-based knowledge bases
This definition, however, leaves open the specific question of what the “events” for collaboration should be like. One potential answer is offered by researchers interested in micro-level strategic practices. They have begun to argue that specific strategy workshops are a common event in organizations. In essence, strategy workshops are events where top managers and other members of an organization regularly come together to discuss strategic issues and challenge current strategies, often with strategy tools such as SWOT analysis, BCG analysis and Porter’s Five Forces. The workshops are typically held at places where people do not typically work daily (hence the British expression ‘away-day’), and the workshops usually last 1-2 days.(Hodgkinson, Whittington, Johnson, & Schwarz, 2006; Whittington, Molloy, Mayer, & Smith, 2006).
Strategy workshops are common – according to Hodgkinson and colleagues’ (2006) survey, over 75% of UK companies use them. In addition to discussing current strategies, achieving innovation is a common goal of strategy workshops: the abovementioned survey discovered that in approximately 50% of the strategy workshops, creating “new ideas and solutions” was a stated purpose of the event (Hodgkinson, Whittington, Johnson, & Schwarz, 2006:484).
Because both their stated purpose and prevalence, strategy workshops could provide a potential locus for the collaborative strategy process development where knowledge transformation processes could be observed. Although current literature on strategic practices does not address the specific question of how knowledge is transformed in strategy workshops, researchers have begun to discuss the broader issues of knowledge, innovation and change in strategy workshops. In addition to the stated purpose of strategy workshops, recent empirical research provides some support for the argument that strategy workshops have a positive impact on innovation and
organizational change. For example, Mezias and colleagues (2001) discovered that strategy workshops are capable of producing organizational change if they can foster change in collective cognition. Some scholars argue that strategy workshops lead to shared knowledge when participants engage in constructing physical models of strategies (Burgi, Jacobs, & Roos, 2005; Heracleous & Jacobs, 2008). In sum, the emerging strategy workshop literature suggests that as strategy workshops are a common event in organizations and they are used specifically to promote innovation and change (Hodgkinson, Whittington, Johnson, & Schwarz, 2006), they could provide a suitable venue for transforming knowledge across organizational boundaries. Combining this discussion on strategy workshops with the previously defined concept of collaborative strategy process development, I term the specific type of strategy workshops where knowledge transformation could take place “collaborative interorganizational strategy process development workshops” and define the concept as follows:
Collaborative interorganizational strategy process development workshops are events where individuals from different organizations and organizational units, possibly representing different specializations, come together to a specific location for at least one day to discuss current and/or future management processes of strategic importance, and in the process of doing so negotiate differences in their practice-based knowledge bases
2.5.3 Research questions
There is little research on how knowledge is transformed at organizational boundaries.
Similarly, few researchers have addressed empirically how the presence of different types
of organizational boundaries might result in different knowledge transformation processes and outcomes. To address this research gap, and to advance the broader discussion on interorganizational innovation-creation toward understanding better key knowledge processes at boundaries, this dissertation research asks: How is knowledge transformed in collaborative interorganizational strategy process development workshops? I tackle this research problem with the following operational research questions:
RQ1: How is knowledge generally transformed at organizational boundaries in collaborative interorganizational strategy process development workshops?
RQ2: How is knowledge transformed at semantic organizational boundaries in collaborative interorganizational strategy process development workshops?
RQ3: How is knowledge transformed at pragmatic organizational boundaries in collaborative interorganizational strategy process development workshops?