This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dodgson, M. Articles by Salter, A. Search for Related Content

"In Case of Fire, Please Use the Elevator": Simulation Technology and Organization in Fire Engineering

University of Queensland Business School, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
Advanced Institute of Management Research and Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
mark.dodgson{at}uq.edu.au
d.gann{at}imperial.ac.uk
a.salter{at}imperial.ac.uk

Interorganizational projects can provide a vehicle for innovation, despite the professional and organizational barriers that confront this form of organizing. The case of fire engineering shows how such projects use simulation technology as a boundary object to foster innovation in a new organizational field. Engineers use simulation technology to produce radical changes in fire control and management, such as using elevators to evacuate buildings during emergencies. A framework is developed that explores how decisions can be reached and tensions resolved amongst multiple, diverse, and discordant actors striving for a shared appreciation of negotiated futures. This framework extends theories of engineering knowledge and boundary objects. It sheds new light on how to organize collective, knowledge-based work to produce reliable and innovative designs.

Key Words: innovation; engineering knowledge; boundary objects; simulation; projects