DISCONTINUITY AND COLLABORATION: THEORY AND EVIDENCE FROM TECHNOLOGICAL PROJECTS

Project teams today often work in complex collaborative and extended settings, especially when multinational firms or international projects are involved. Studies on projects have attempted to identify and measure the factors that influence collaboration. Many models have been proposed, reflecting the rising importance of this research area. However, few authors have explored the contribution of discontinuity to effective collaboration. This article presents a theoretical overview of discontinuity and collaboration practices in technology industries. The empirical results of a study of technological projects are then presented. The results support the contribution of discontinuity to effective collaboration. A more surprising result suggests that different forms of discontinuity contribute differently to collaboration and that cultural discontinuity has a negligible impact on collaboration.