“Crossing Spatial and Temporal Boundaries in Globally Distributed Projects: A Relational Model of Coordination Delay”

While spatial boundaries include the geographic differences among project members (different cities), temporal boundaries include the time zone differences among project members (different workdays). In globally distributed projects, members have to deal with both spatial and temporal boundaries since other members are often located in cities within and across time zones. For pairs of members with high spatial boundaries and low temporal boundaries (those in different cities with overlapping workdays), synchronous communication technologies such as the telephone, instant messaging, and web conferencing provide a means for real-time interaction. However, for pairs of members with high spatial boundaries and high temporal boundaries (those in different cities with non-overlapping workdays), asynchronous communication technologies, such as e-mail, provide a way to interact intermittently. Using social network data from 562 project members (representing 5582 pairs of members) across 120 projects in a multi-national semiconductor firm, we develop and empirically test a relational model of coordination delay. In our model, the likelihood of delay for pairs of members is a function of the spatial and temporal boundaries that separate them, as well as the communication technologies they use to coordinate their work. As expected, the use of web conferencing reduces coordination delay for pairs of members located in different cities with overlapping workdays. Unexpectedly, the use of e-mail did not reduce coordination delay for pairs of members located in different cities with non-overlapping workdays, but rather reduces coordination delay to a greater extent for those with overlapping workdays. We discuss the implications of our findings that temporal boundaries are more difficult to cross with communication technologies than spatial boundaries

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