Understanding innovation in the biomedical field requires an appreciation of its highly interactive nature and of the many professional and organizational boundaries that create barriers to interaction and the sharing of knowledge. Yet, research to date has directed much less attention to understanding the intricacies of interactive biomedical innovation in practice, than it has to exploring the factors influencing innovation at an institutional level. Drawing upon empirical research and taking an approach informed by symbolic interactionism and a practice-based perspective on knowledge and learning, this article offers insights into the processes involved in supporting knowledge sharing by focusing on `objects' and the varying roles they play (instrumental and symbolic) in enabling (or potentially disabling) interaction amongst groups and organizations involved in biomedical innovation projects.
Alvesson, M. & Karreman, D.Odd couple: Making sense of the curious concept of knowledge management. Journal of Management Studies, 2000, 38, 995—1018.
2.
Barley, S.R. & Tolbert, P.S.Institutionalization and structuration: Studying the links between action and institution. Organization Studies, 1997 , 18, 93—117.
3.
Bartel, C.A. & Garud, R.Narrative knowledge in action: Adaptive abduction as a mechanism for knowledge creation and exchange in organisations. In M. Easterby-Smith & M.SA. Lyles (Eds), The Blackwell handbook of organisational learning and knowledge management. Oxford: Blackwell, 2003, pp. 324—42.
4.
Bechky, B.A.Sharing meaning across occupational communities: The transformation of understanding on a production floor. Organization Science, 2003, 14(3), 312—30.
5.
Benders, J. & van Veen, K.What's in a fashion? Interpretative viability and management fashions. Organization, 2001, 8(1), 33—54.
6.
Bijker, W.E., Hughes, T.P. & Pinch, T.J.The social construction of technological systems. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1987.
7.
Blumer, H.Symbolic interactionism: Perspective and method. Berkeley : University of California Press, 1969.
8.
Bock, A.K., Ibarreta, D. & Rodriguez-Cerezo, E.Human tissue engineered products: Today's markets and future prospects. Report for the Joint Research Centre, European Commission, 2003.
9.
Boland, R.J. & Tenkasi, R.V.Perspective making and perspective taking in communities of knowing. Organization Science, 1995, 6(4), 350—72.
10.
Bourdieu, P. & Wacquant, L.An invitation to reflexive sociology. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1992.
11.
Briers, M. & Chua, W.F.The role of actor-networks and boundary objects in management accounting change: A field study of an implementation of activity-based costing. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 2001, 26(3), 237—69.
12.
Brown, J.S. & Duguid, P.Knowledge and organization: A social-practice perspective. Organization Science, 2001, 12(2), 198—213.
13.
Brunsson, N.The irrationality of action and action rationality: Decisions, ideologies and organizational actions. Journal of Management Studies , 1982, 19(1), 29—44.
14.
Carlile, P.A pragmatic view of knowledge and boundaries: Boundary objects in new product development. Organization Science, 2002, 13, 442—55.
15.
Carlile, P.Transferring, translating and transforming: An integrative framework for managing knowledge across boundaries. Organization Science, 2004, 15(5), 555—68.
16.
Casper, S. & Kettler, H.National institutional frameworks and the hybridization of entrepreneurial business models: The German and UK biotechnology sectors. Industry and Innovation, 2001, 8(1), 5—30.
17.
Christensen, C., Bohmer, R. & Kenagy, J.Will disruptive innovations cure health care?Harvard Business Review, 2000, Sept/Oct, 102—12.
18.
CMR International.Centre for Medical Research International R&D Compendium, 2006.
19.
Cook, S.D.N. & Brown, J.S.Bridging epistemologies: The generative dance between organizational knowledge and organizational knowing. Organization Science, 1999, 10, 381—400.
20.
Coombes, R., Harvey, M. & Tether, B.S.Analysing distributed processes of provision and innovation. Industrial and Corporate Change, 2003, 12(6), 1125—55.
21.
Dodgson, M., Gann, D. & Salter, A.Think, play, do: Innovation, technology and organization. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
22.
DoH.The genetics knowledge parks network — Overview, Department of Health, 2002 .
23.
Dopson, S.The diffusion of medical innovations: Can figurational sociology contribute?Organization Studies, 2005, 26(8), 1125—44.
24.
Dougherty, D.Interpretive barriers to successful product innovation in large firms. Organization Science, 1992, 3, 179—202.
25.
Dougherty, D.Trapped in the 20th century? Why models of organizational learning, knowledge and capabilities do not fit bio-pharmaceuticals, and what to do about that . Management Learning, 2007, in press.
26.
Douglas, M.How institutions think. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1986.
27.
Eisenhardt, K.M. & Graebner, M.E.Theory building from case studies: Opportunities and challenges. Academy of Management Journal, 2007, 50(1), 25—32.
28.
Etzkowitz, H. & Leydesdorff, L.The dynamics of innovation: From national systems and `mode 2' to a triple helix of university—industry—government relations. ResearchPolicy, 2000, 29, 109—23.
29.
Feldman, M.S. & March, J.G.Information in organizations as signal and symbol. Administrative Science Quarterly,1981, 26, 171—86.
30.
Garrety, K. & Badham, R.The politics of socio-technical intervention: An interactionist view. Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, 2000, 12, 103—18.
31.
Gherardi, S.Knowing as desiring. Mythic knowledge and the knowledge journey in communities of practitioners. Journal of WorkplaceLearning, 2003, 15, 352—9.
32.
Gibbons, M., Limoges, C., Nowotny, H., Schwartzman, S., Scott, P. & Trow, M.The new production of knowledge: The dynamics of science and research in contemporary societies. London: Sage, 1994.
33.
Glaser, R. (Ed.). Advances in instructional psychology. London: Wiley, 1978, pp. 83—4.
34.
Ghosh, P., Pal, G. & Tsoukas, H.The tyranny of light: The temptations and the paradoxes of the information society. Futures, 1997, 29(9), 827—43.
35.
Halliday, T.Knowledge mandates: Collective influence by scientific, normative and syncretic professions. British Journal of Sociology, 1985, 36(3), 421—39.
36.
Hargadon, A. & Sutton, R.I.Technology brokering and innovation in a product development firm. Administrative Science Quarterly,1997, 42(4), 716—49.
37.
Henderson, K.Flexible sketches and inflexible databases: Visual communication, conscription devices, and boundary objects in design engineering. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 1991, 16(4), 448—73.
38.
Henderson, R., Orsenigo, L. & Pisano, G.The pharmaceutical industry and the revolution in molecular biology: Interactions among scientific, institutional, and organizational change. In D. Mowery & R. Nelson (Eds), Sources of industrial leadership. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999, pp. 267—311.
39.
Knorr-Cetina, K.Epistemic cultures: How the sciences make knowledge. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999 .
40.
Lamertz, K., Martens, M. & Heugens, P.Issue evolution: A symbolic interactionist perspective. Corporate Reputation Review, 2003, 6(1), 82—93.
41.
Latour, B.Science in action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1987.
42.
Lave, J. & Wenger, E.Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
43.
Letiche, H. & van Hattem, R.Self and organization: Knowledge work and fragmentation . Journal of Organizational Change, 2000, 13, 352—66.
44.
Levina, N. & Vaast, E.The emergence of boundary spanning competence in practice: Implications for implementation and use of information systems. MIS Quarterly , 2005, 29(2), 335—63.
45.
Martin, P. Pharmacogenetics: Innovations and expectations. ESRC Cultures of the Gene Seminar, University of Warwick, January 2004.
46.
Miles, M. & Huberman, A.Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. London : Sage, 1994.
47.
Newell, S., Edelman, L., Scarbrough, H., Swan, J. & Bresnen, M. `Best Practice' development and transfer in the NHS: The importance of process as well as product knowledge. Health Services Management Research, 2003, 16, 1—12.
48.
Nonaka, I. & Takeuchi, I.The knowledge creating organization. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
49.
Owen-Smith, J. & Powell, W.Knowledge networks as channels and conduits: The effects of spillovers in the Boston biotechnology community. Organization Science, 2004, 15(1), 5—21.
50.
Pawlowski, S.D. & Robey, D.Bridging user organisations: Knowledge brokering and the work of information technology professionals. MIS Quarterly, 2004 , 28(4), 645—72.
51.
Powell, W.W., White, D.R., Koput, K.W. & Owen-Smith, J.Network dynamics and field evolution: The growth of interorganizational collaboration in the life sciences. American Journal of Sociology, 2005, 110(4), 1132—207.
52.
Prasad, P.Symbolic processes in the implementation of technological change: A symbolic interactionist study of work computerization. Academy of Management Journal, 1993, 36, 1400—30.
53.
Scarbrough, H., Swan, J., Laurent, S., Bresnen, M., Edelman, L. & Newell, S.Project-based learning and the role of learning boundaries. Organization Studies, 2004, 25(9), 1579—600.
Star, S.L.The structure of ill-structured solutions: Boundary objects and heterogeneous distributed problem solving. In J. Weschler (Ed.), On aesthetics in science. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1989.
56.
Star, S.L. & Griesemer, J.Institutional ecology, translations and boundary objects: Amateurs and professionals in Berkley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology 1907—1939. Social Studies of Science, 1989, 19(3), 387—420.
57.
Swan, J., Goussevskaia, A., Newell, S., Robertson, M., Bresnen, M. & Obembe, A.Modes of organizing biomedical innovation in the UK and US and the role of integrative and relational capabilities. Research Policy, 2007, 36(4), 529—47.
58.
Swan, J., Scarbrough, H. & Robertson, M.The construction of `communities of practice' in the management of innovation . Management Learning, 2003, 33, 477—96.
59.
Tushman, M. & Scanlan, T.Boundary spanning individuals: Their role in information transfer and their antecedents. Academy of Management Journal, 1981, 24(2), 289—305.
60.
Weick, K.The social psychology of organizing. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley, 1979.
61.
Wenger, E.Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
62.
Wenger, E.Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization , 2000, 7(2), 225—46.
