Research Summary
Research Summary
The role of the manager in cross-sector interactions
Description
My second stream of research takes the individual manager as the unit of analysis in examining cross-sector interactions. Two papers explore processes and mechanisms that allow managers to cross sectoral boundaries more effectively.
The first paper utilizes a unique dataset of individual-level communications between 43 large companies and a consultant for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding a very simple energy-saving innovation, to analyze some of the less-understood determinants of innovation adoption at the level of the individual manager. Results indicate that adoption of the EPA's monitor power management innovation was predicted by the involvement of managers from two functional roles, but in a particular order - the communications department as the first contact and the environmental/energy function as the last contact. This suggests that two key skills required of boundary spanners (internal/external network star and ability to muster organizational resources) may be split between two managers.
In a second project (with Amy Edmondson), I study the interactions between government and business in the context of sustainable urban development efforts in the United Kingdom. One of the most common examples of cross-sector boundary crossing occurs with the creation of a partnership between the public and private sectors, often known as a public-private partnership (PPP). Our aim in this paper is to extend the existing theory of PPPs to more fully account for the underlying factors that enhance managers' ability to cognitively access the partnership and work more effectively across the societal boundary.
The first paper utilizes a unique dataset of individual-level communications between 43 large companies and a consultant for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding a very simple energy-saving innovation, to analyze some of the less-understood determinants of innovation adoption at the level of the individual manager. Results indicate that adoption of the EPA's monitor power management innovation was predicted by the involvement of managers from two functional roles, but in a particular order - the communications department as the first contact and the environmental/energy function as the last contact. This suggests that two key skills required of boundary spanners (internal/external network star and ability to muster organizational resources) may be split between two managers.
In a second project (with Amy Edmondson), I study the interactions between government and business in the context of sustainable urban development efforts in the United Kingdom. One of the most common examples of cross-sector boundary crossing occurs with the creation of a partnership between the public and private sectors, often known as a public-private partnership (PPP). Our aim in this paper is to extend the existing theory of PPPs to more fully account for the underlying factors that enhance managers' ability to cognitively access the partnership and work more effectively across the societal boundary.