Composite Boundary Objects In Inter-Organizational Innovation Activities

Organizations are recognized today as part of business ecosystems that conduct activities with business partners in a cooperative fashion. In our research we focus particularly on activities related to innovation in such inter-organizational co-operations. The role of information systems (IS) in interorganizational cooperative innovation activities is significant. Boundary objects are used to understand interactions between actors with varying information and knowledge needs. While the vital role of boundary objects has been recognized in IS literature, less attention has been paid to the process of emergence of boundary objects. Boundary objects are often studied in their manifestations as single IT artefacts such as a database or spread sheet. In this study, we offer the view of boundary objects as elements of a boundary infrastructure, comprising a portfolio of separate artefacts, which we refer to as “composite boundary objects” (CBOs). By means of a qualitative case study, we describe the process of emergence of CBOs and provide evidence of their role in coordination in the inter-organizational innovation project. We see our major contribution in a first conceptualization and definition of CBOs, as well as in describing their emergence and significance in the context of inter-organizational innovation activities.