Managing Knowledge Integration Across Boundaries

While it is popular to say that we live in an increasingly 'boundary-less' world, in reality, people in organizations face numerous boundaries in their everyday workgeographic, functional, divisional, cultural, intellectual, etc. This book offers both theoretical and practical insights into how people can manage across or through these boundaries in order to integrate knowledge. * Sarah Kaplan, Professor of Strategic Management Rotman School, University of Toronto *
In the age of open innovation, it is clearer than ever that no firm is an 'island'. However, that important truth does not negate another fundamental property that boundarieswhether between firms, work groups, or national bordershave consequences for the flow of knowledge. This volume by Tell, Berggren, Brusoni, and Van de Ven provide a conceptually sophisticated and empirically rich account of these tensions and challenges. * Daniel Levinthal, Reginald H. Jones Professor of Corporate Strategy, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania *
Knowledge may be power, but fragmented knowledge can be disempowering. Finding ways to integrate increasingly specialized, distributed and incomplete knowledge across boundaries is one of the most pressing issues in late modern societieshardly any social or economic problem is effectively addressed unless diverse streams of knowledge are systematically shared and integrated. This is the best book I have seen on this important topic. There is much to admire in it: the diversity of perspectives, the empirical richness, and the theoretical robustness are all evident. It breaks new ground in how we understand knowledge integration. * Haridimos Tsoukas, The Columbia Ship Management Professor of Strategic Management, University of Cyprus and Distinguished Research Environment Professor of Organization Studies, University of Warwick *