Brokerage, Boundary Spanning, and Leadership in Open Innovation Communities

Lee Fleming, David M. Waguespack · 2007 · Organization Science

Summary. Leaders in open innovation communities need strong technical skills first, then must integrate their communities to prevent fragmentation. Two social positions enable this: brokers who connect disparate groups, and boundary spanners who link different technological areas. Boundary spanners advance to leadership more readily than brokers because they avoid the trust deficits brokers face, though physical interaction can help brokers overcome this disadvantage. The study tracked careers in the Internet Engineering Task Force from 1986 to 2002.

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Fleming, L., & Waguespack, D. M.. (2007). Brokerage, Boundary Spanning, and Leadership in Open Innovation Communities. Organization Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1060.0242

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  title   = {Brokerage, Boundary Spanning, and Leadership in Open Innovation Communities},
  author  = {Lee Fleming and David M. Waguespack},
  journal = {Organization Science},
  year    = {2007},
  doi     = {10.1287/orsc.1060.0242},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1060.0242}
}

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AU  - Lee Fleming
AU  - David M. Waguespack
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Details

DOI: 10.1287/orsc.1060.0242
Countries: United States
Regions: North America
Categories: innovation-networks, innovation-theory, general-innovation
Added: 2026-04-28