Wakes of innovation in project networks: The case of digital 3-D representations in architecture, engineering, and construction

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Boland, Richard J., Jr.; Lyytinen, Kalle; Yoo, Youngjin
• 署名单位: University System of Ohio; Case Western Reserve University; Pennsylvania Commonwealth System of Higher Education (PCSHE); Temple University
• 刊物名称: ORGANIZATION SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1047-7039
• DOI: 10.1287/orsc.1070.0304
• 发表日期: 2007
• 页码: 631-647
• 关键词: innovation; diffusion of innovation; innovation theory; IT-induced innovation; wakes of innovation; digital 3-D representation; intercalated innovations; trading zones; Frank Gehry; path creation; path dependency; distributed systems; architecture; engineering and construction

摘要

Changes in the technologies of representation in a heterogeneous, distributed sociotechnical system, such as a large construction project, can instigate a complex pattern of innovations in technologies, practices, structures, and strategies. We studied the adoption of digital three-dimensional (3-D) representations in the building projects of the architect Frank O. Gehry, and observed that multiple, heterogeneous firms in those projects produced diverse innovations, each of which created a wake of innovation. Together, these multiple wakes of innovation produce a complex landscape of innovations with unpredictable peaks and valleys. Gehry's adoption of digital 3-D representations disturbed the ecology of interactions and stimulated innovations in his project networks by: providing path-creating innovation trajectories in separate communities of practice, creating trading zones where communities could create knowledge about diverse innovations, and offering a means for intercalating innovations across heterogeneous communities. Our study suggests that changes in digital representations that are central to the functioning of a distributed system can engender multiple innovations in technologies, work practices, and knowledge across multiple communities, each of which is following its own distinctive tempo and trajectory.