Organizational interfaces for knowledge integration in product development collaborations

• DOI: 10.1111/caim.12239
• Publication Date: 2017-11-23T04:15:18Z
• Authors: Mattias Axelson; Anders Richtnér
• Keywords: 0502 economics and business; 05 social sciences

Through an inductive case study over three years of two product development collaborations, we identified how four organizational interfaces play out over time and how they are related to each other. This study therefore contributes to our understanding of how organizational interfaces evolve and their mutual dependencies in shaping conditions for knowledge integration. Our study extends previous work on organizational interfaces that have either focused on interfaces within the organization or focused on one or two organizational interfaces and their link to knowledge integration without considering the enabling conditions. Our longitudinal approach helps to understand how organizational interfaces play out over time and how they interact and influence each other. Our research helps managers to ask the right questions about how they can design preconditions for knowledge integration in product development collaborations.