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Boundary Spanners in the Orchestration of Resources: Global–local Complementarities in Action
Author(s) -
Mérindol Valérie,
Versailles David W.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
european management review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.784
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1740-4762
pISSN - 1740-4754
DOI - 10.1111/emre.12321
Subject(s) - orchestration , boundary spanning , boundary (topology) , microfoundations , knowledge management , software deployment , field (mathematics) , exploratory research , computer science , function (biology) , globalization , boundary object , business , process management , sociology , political science , economics , negotiation , mathematics , art , anthropology , macroeconomics , mathematical analysis , visual arts , biology , operating system , musical , evolutionary biology , pure mathematics , social science , law
This research focuses on managerial roles and practices in the local–global deployment of the orchestration of resources. We aim at understanding how local and global managers contribute to ‘sensing', ‘seizing' and ‘reconfiguring' in a transnational firm. We offer an exploratory, explanatory and theory‐building case study and an abductive method grounded in the microfoundations of managerial activities. The field research develops inside THALES business units. We obtain two main conclusions that are consistent with our abductive method: we characterize how the boundary‐spanning function serves the orchestration of resources and highlight the importance of team and network boundary‐spanning modalities. We identify the complementarities between local and global boundary spanners, and we show that rules create the framework suited to empowering the dynamics of team or network boundary spanning at the local and global levels.