Boundary Work and Boundary Objects: Synthesizing Two Concepts for Moments of Controversy

2020 ◽  
pp. 004728162094735
Author(s):  
Jessica R. Houf
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Work ◽  
Human Microbiome ◽  
Boundary Objects ◽  
Fecal Microbiota ◽  
Professional Communication ◽  
Boundary Object ◽  
Dialectical Relationship ◽  
Work Functions ◽  
Technical And Professional Communication

There are two boundary concepts utilized in technical and professional communication (TPC) scholarship: boundary work and, to a lesser degree, boundary objects. Boundary work functions to demarcate, incorporate, and expel particular ideas, groups, and practices from a field or profession. Boundary objects enhance the capacity of ideas, practices, and theories to translate across different groups. Together, these concepts are useful to TPC scholars interested in moments of controversy. In this essay, I explore the dialectical relationship between these two concepts and apply the resulting synthesis to a contemporary case study, the use of fecal microbiota transplants. I argue that the human microbiome functions as a boundary object and opens space within medicine’s own boundary work for the inclusion of fecal microbiota transplants. Together, the dialectical concepts of boundary work and boundary object create a new kind of analytic that allows TPC scholars to map boundary transformations, recognize moments for intervention, and create strategies for collaboration.

The integration of risk and performance management: the role of boundary objects

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Bracci ◽  
Giorgia Gobbo ◽  
Luca Papi
Keyword(s):  
Performance Management ◽  
Knowledge Integration ◽  
Boundary Work ◽  
Boundary Objects ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Integration Mechanisms ◽  
And Performance

PurposeThis paper investigates the role of boundary objects and boundary work in the integration of risk management (RM) and performance management (PM) systems. In particular, the paper combines theoretical insights with an empirical focus to examine how shared contexts are created through the boundary work performed by key actors across knowledge boundaries.Design/methodology/approachThe paper develops an exploratory qualitative case study from a local government context. The methodology is based on document analysis and semi-structured interviews.FindingsBoundary objects can act as knowledge integration mechanisms, allowing key actors to understand the meanings and uses of RM and PM practices. The paper shows how collaborative versus competitive boundary work exerted by key actors can explain the creation of shared contexts leading to integration between RM and PM.Originality/valueThe results contribute to the debate about the integration of RM with other managerial systems. Differently from previous research, the integration theme is addressed in the present work by looking specifically to the integration between RM and PM. In doing so, the role of both boundary objects and the boundary work performed by relevant actors to demarcate their legitimacy and autonomy over preferred practices is portrayed.

scholarly journals Using Boundary Objects to Co-Create Community Health and Water Knowledge with Community-Based Medical Anthropology and Indigenous Knowledge

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-76
Author(s):  
Sarah Duignan ◽  
Tina Moffat ◽  
Dawn Martin-Hill
Keyword(s):  
Community Health ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Medical Anthropology ◽  
Health Survey ◽  
Water Contamination ◽  
Boundary Work ◽  
Boundary Objects ◽  
Boundary Object ◽  
Health Priorities ◽  
Community Based

This article explores how Indigenous Knowledge and medical anthropology can co-construct community health knowledge through boundary work and the use of boundary objects. It will highlight how community-based participatory research (CBPR) in medical anthropology can help co-develop methods and strategies with Indigenous research partners to assess the human health impact of the First Nations water crisis. We draw on a case study of our community-based approach to health research with Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation community stakeholders and McMaster University researchers. We highlight how framing a co-constructed health survey as a boundary object can create dialogical space for Indigenous and western academic pedagogies and priorities. We also explore how this CBPR anthropology approach, informed by Indigenous Knowledge, allows for deeper foundations of culturally centered health to guide our work in identifying current and future community health needs concerning these ongoing water contamination and access issues. Through three health survey versions, priorities and research questions shifted and expanded to suit growing community health priorities. This led to collaborative action to communicate specific messages around water contamination and access across governance, community, and institutional boundaries. We demonstrate how our co-constructed approach and boundary work allows for the respectful and reciprocal development of these long-term research partnerships and works in solidarity with the Two-Row Wampum (Kaswentha) treaty established by the Haudenosaunee Nation and European settler nations. 

Legally Minded Technical Communicators: A Case Study of a Legal Writing Course

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-414
Author(s):  
Godwin Y. Agboka
Keyword(s):  
Technical Communication ◽  
Professional Communication ◽  
Legal Literacy ◽  
Legal Writing ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Technical Communicators ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Technical And Professional Communication

Understanding the law and its impact on the practice of technical communication has been an important scholarly thread in technical and professional communication (TPC) for more than two decades. Technical communicators recognize the impact of their work on stakeholders as well as the potential liability issues associated with composing technical communication documents. While this scholarship is widespread, relatively few pedagogical resources are available to prepare students for success in a litigious world or to guide instructors in teaching legal writing. This article offers a case study of a legal writing course that prepares TPC students to develop legal literacy and succeed in the workplace.

scholarly journals Boundary work in value co-creation practices: the mediating role of cognitive assistants

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Mele ◽  
Tiziana Russo-Spena ◽  
MariaLuisa Marzullo ◽  
Andrea Ruggiero
Keyword(s):  
Intelligent Agents ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
Boundary Work ◽  
Boundary Objects ◽  
Boundary Object ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Formal Caregivers ◽  
Mediating Role

PurposeHow to improve healthcare for the ageing population is attracting academia attention. Emerging technologies (i.e. robots and intelligent agents) look relevant. This paper aims to analyze the role of cognitive assistants as boundary objects in value co-creation practices. We include the perceptions of the main actors – patients, (in)formal caregivers, healthcare professionals – for a fuller network perspective to understand the potential overlap between boundary work and value co-creation practices.Design/methodology/approachWe adopted a grounded approach to gain a contextual understanding design to effectively interpret context and meanings related to human–robot interactions. The study context concerns 21 health solutions that had embedded the Watson cognitive platform and its adoption by the youngest cohort (50–64-year-olds) of the ageing population.FindingsThe cognitive assistant acts as a boundary object by bridging actors, resources and activities. It enacts the boundary work of actors (both ageing and professional, caregivers, families) consisting of four main actions (automated dialoguing, augmented sharing, connected learning and multilayered trusting) that elicit two ageing value co-creation practices: empowering ageing actors in medical care and engaging ageing actors in a healthy lifestyle.Originality/valueWe frame the role of cognitive assistants as boundary objects enabling the boundary work of ageing actors for value co-creation. A cognitive assistant is an “object of activity” that mediates in actors' boundary work by offering novel resource interfaces and widening resource access and resourceness. The boundary work of ageing actors lies in a smarter resource integration that yields broader applications for augmented agency.

scholarly journals Don’t throw rocks from the side-lines

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 542-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Daniel ◽  
Elizabeth Hartnett ◽  
Maureen Meadows
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Boundary Objects ◽  
Internal Communication ◽  
Boundary Object ◽  
Organizational Boundaries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Object Domain ◽  
Situated Practice

Purpose Social media such as blogs are being widely used in organizations in order to undertake internal communication and share knowledge, rendering them important boundary objects. A root metaphor of the boundary object domain is the notion of relatively static and inert objects spanning similarly static boundaries. A strong sociomaterial perspective allows the immisciblity of object and boundary to be challenged, since a key tenet of this perspective is the ongoing and mutually constituted performance of the material and social. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The aim of the research is to draw upon sociomateriality to explore the operation of social media platforms as intra-organizational boundary objects. Given the novel perspective of this study and its social constructivist ontology, the authors adopt an exploratory, interpretivist research design. This is operationalized as a case study of the use of an organizational blog by a major UK Government department over an extended period. A novel aspect of the study is the use of data released under a Freedom of Information request. Findings The authors present three exemplar instances of how the blog and organizational boundaries were performed in the situated practice of the case study organization. The authors draw on the literature on boundary objects, blogs and sociomateriality in order to provide a theoretical explication of the mutually constituted performance of the blog and organizational boundaries. The authors also invoke the notion of “extended chains of intra-action” to theorize changes in the wider organization. Originality/value Adoption of a sociomaterial lens provides a highly novel perspective of boundary objects and organizational boundaries. The study highlights the indeterminate and dynamic nature of boundary objects and boundaries, with both being in an intra-active state of becoming challenging conventional conceptions. The study demonstrates that specific material-discursive practices arising from the situated practice of the blog at the respective boundaries were performative, reconfiguring the blog and boundaries and being generative of further changes in the organization.

Positive Deviance as Design Thinking: Challenging Notions of Stasis in Technical and Professional Communication

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 376-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucía Durá ◽  
Lauren Perez ◽  
Magdalena Chaparro
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Change ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Positive Deviance ◽  
Professional Communication ◽  
Innovative Methodology ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Mexico Border ◽  
Common Problems ◽  
Technical And Professional Communication

In design thinking, extreme users have found work-arounds for common problems, but they are few in number and often overlooked in toolkits and write-ups. This article posits that positive deviance, an approach to social and behavioral change that is compatible with design thinking, offers technical and professional communicators an accessible and innovative methodology for engaging extreme users. The authors analyze a case study of how the positive deviance approach was used to address federal recidivism on the U.S.–Mexico border. They conducted a positive deviance inquiry to arrive at the everyday replicable behaviors that enabled released individuals to complete their terms of supervised release successfully, despite the odds against them and without access to special resources. The authors conclude by discussing the value and implications of focusing on extreme users.

Composing Like an Entrepreneur: The Pedagogical Implications of Design Thinking in the Workplace

2021 ◽  
pp. 004728162110315
Author(s):  
Mason Pellegrini
Keyword(s):  
Design Thinking ◽  
Web Design ◽  
Professional Communication ◽  
Business Success ◽  
Current State ◽  
Composing Process ◽  
State Of Research ◽  
Design Firms ◽  
Fierce Competition ◽  
Technical And Professional Communication

Fierce competition has made innovation increasingly necessary for business success, and this has increased the importance of user-based innovation strategies like design thinking (DT). While many studies in technical and professional communication (TPC) have explored how DT can be used pedagogically, no studies have done this through investigating how DT is used as a workplace composing process. This study does exactly that. First, it presents the current state of research on pedagogical uses of DT in TPC, and then it builds upon those suggestions with an empirical study that chronicles on how two web design firms use DT to make websites. My main suggestion is to teach DT as a recursive process that allows students transcend potentially incorrect assumptions built into design tasks through gathering data not only from users, but from clients as well.

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