Twisting between Multiple Boundaries: An Organizational Perspective on Boundary Organizations

Abstract

Boundary organizations play a critical role in catalyzing boundary-spanning solutions to complex societal challenges. While extant studies highlight how these organizations facilitate collaboration among diverse and distant actors, less is known about how they cope with tensions emerging from their dual nature as both inter-organizational linkage and independent organization. We explore this question with a comparative case study of four boundary organizations in global health. Our findings depict how related tensions materialize and how boundary organizations respond by buffering and influencing demands from within and across their partner network that risk destabilizing their organization. However, effective boundary work calls for consistent organizational alignment with the catalyst mission, which in turn highlights the particular leadership challenges arising at the crossroad of being an inter-organizational linkage and independent organization. On this basis, our study deepens organizational insight...