Complexity and evolution of knowledge boundaries in an interdisciplinary research project

Abstract

This paper aims to understand how and why knowledge boundaries occur, change, and evolve throughout the life-cycle of interdisciplinary research projects, how they are experienced by different actors, and what strategies they deploy to overcome these boundaries. The study took a case study approach focusing on an interdisciplinary research project for the development of computerised tomography and digital X-ray scanners in a governmental research organisation in Thailand. A multi-method qualitative approach, involving semi-structured interviews, participative observation, and artefact and document analysis, was adopted. Data was analysed through thematic analysis. The findings suggest that knowledge management is more complex and difficult than portrayed in previous studies because of the following: (1) knowledge boundaries evolve and exhibit different emphases at distinct stages of the project; (2) boundaries do not stem only from differences in knowledge across different organisational actors, but, equally importantly, due to the lack of awareness that these differences exist; (3) different organisational actors experience diverse types of knowledge boundary types when faced within the same situation; and (4) context, in terms of external pressures driving the project and influencing its direction, plays an important role in boundary construction and boundary-spanning mechanisms. This paper presents a novel framework for conceptualising how and why knowledge boundaries evolve throughout an interdisciplinary research project, how these changes are experienced by different participating actors, and what boundary-spanning mechanisms for bridging them are developed by them. It demonstrates that these changes are often shaped by external drivers that shape the development of the project.