Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-1-2006
Abstract
The role of language in communication has been part of most social science and management disciplines for decades; but in the world of practice, large organizations still struggle with implementing major innovations or changes due to communication barriers between the diverse participants. The lack of acceptance and the challenges of change are especially characteristic of information technology-enabled business transformations that typically involve intense interactions between business executive/managers and information technology (IT) staff. When these diverse groups interact to achieve an over-arching company objective, communication becomes a major organizational challenge. During my discussions with executives over the years in the world of practice, communication often has come up as one of the keys to success in ensuring that all groups and people are aligned toward business objectives. There has been extensive research on IT-enabled organizational alignment, and various frameworks have been proposed to understand alignment (Henderson & Venkatraman, 1999). This research attempts to understand the dominant alignment frameworks by going deeper into how they explain communication between the groups. In particular, the focus will be on boundary objects (Star, 1989) that can include words, metaphors, narrative, stories, buzzwords, and labels that are used for intergroup communication. It is conceptualized that when boundary objects are aligned towards the company objectives during the transformation process, the chances of achieving those objectives become much greater. At the same time, when boundary objects are not aligned, there will be increasing resistance, confusion, and a dramatically lower chance of implementation success. The alignment of boundary objects is in individual action and not in shared meaning. In other words, the meaning could be different for people in different groups, but if their actions are complementary and aligned in terms of overall company results against strategic objects, then alignment has been achieved.
Keywords
language and languages
Rights
© The Author(s). Kelvin Smith Library provides access for non-commercial, personal, or research use only. All other use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly reproductions, redistribution, publication or transmission, whether by electronic means or otherwise, without prior written permission is strictly prohibited.
Department/Center
Design & Innovation
Recommended Citation
Rashid, Humayun, "Language of Innovation: Alignment of Boundary Objects" (2006). Student Scholarship. 277.
https://commons.case.edu/studentworks/277