Organizational Boundary Spanning in Large Collaborative Science

越来越多地，追求科学发现的工作不再是由单独工作的个人完成的，而是由个人组成的团队，甚至是由团队组成的网络，共同努力实现共同目标。作为科学问题的解决者，这种转向更大的社会网络的一个主要原因是，问题正变得越来越复杂，需要不同领域的专业知识，这使得个人很难单独解决问题。尽管在追求科学的过程中使用个人和团队网络有很大的潜力，但它们需要个人在这些网络的人际复杂性中进行导航。当人们考虑到个人为了完成他们的工作，可能不仅与在同一组织工作的其他人联系或联系在一起，而且还与在不同组织工作的其他人联系在一起时，这种复杂性尤为明显。考虑到这一点，本研究的目的是在科学的背景下了解个人内部和外部关系的数量、质量和组成如何影响绩效，特别强调外部关系促进或阻碍内部关系对绩效的影响的方式。了解内部和外部社会网络联系的共同影响不仅有可能促进科学的进步，而且对科学合作之外的环境也有影响。例如，这项研究产生的知识将对医疗保健产生影响，医疗保健越来越多地由个人和团队网络、利用超越单一组织边界的团队的商业组织以及使用联合部队和联合行动的军队提供。通过调查方法，这项研究将从科学家样本中产生数据，这些数据包括他们与在美国联邦资助实验室系统中粒子物理设施工作的其他科学家的内部联系和外部联系。为了避免与自我报告相关的局限性，调查人员将尝试用内部联系报告来证实焦点个人报告的外部联系。通过在更大的科学生态系统中确定外部、跨界关系的数量和质量，研究者将能够检查诸如外部关系相对于内部关系的预测有效性、外部关系是否会调节内部关系对绩效衡量的影响、以及外部关系的构成是否会导致绩效的差异影响等问题，即使考虑到内部关系。总之，外部联系的初步识别，结合内部联系的数据，代表了一个重要的延伸，因为外部联系可能以不同于内部联系的方式运作，因为它们可能具有以下特点：(a)更大的地理分散，(b)团队之间的目标偏差程度更高，(c)由于外部联系的自愿性而减少多样性，以及(d)面对面互动较少。取决于通讯技术的水平。

Increasingly, the pursuit of scientific discovery is being fulfilled not by individuals working in isolation, but rather by teams of individuals, or even networks of teams, working together to achieve a common objective. One major reason for this shift toward larger social networks as solvers of scientific problems is that problems are becoming increasingly complex and require different areas of expertise, making them too difficult for individuals to solve alone. Although there is great potential for the use of networks of individuals and teams in the pursuit of science, they require individuals to navigate through the interpersonal complexities of those networks. Such complexities are especially evident when one considers that individuals, in order to accomplish their work, may be connected or tied not only to others working in the same organization, but also to others working in different organizations. With this in mind, the purpose of this research is to understand how the quantity, quality, and composition of individuals' internal and external ties influence performance in a scientific context, with a particular emphasis on the ways in which external ties facilitate or hinder the effects of internal ties on performance. Understanding the joint influence of internal and external social network ties not only has the potential to promote the progress of science, but it also has implications for contexts outside of science collaboration. For example, the knowledge generated by this research will have implications for medical care, which is increasingly provided by networks of individuals and teams, business organizations, which are utilizing teams that transcend the boundaries of a single organization, and the military, with its use of Joint Forces and Combined Operations. Via survey methodology, this research will generate data from a sample of scientists on their internal ties and external ties to other scientists working in particle physics facilities throughout the U.S. system of federally funded laboratories. To avoid limitations associated with self-report, the investigators will attempt to corroborate external ties reported by focal individuals with reports from internal ties. By identifying the quantity and quality of external, boundary spanning ties within the larger scientific ecosystem, the investigators will be able to examine issues such as the predictive validity of external ties relative to internal ties, whether external ties moderate the effects of internal ties on measures of performance, and whether the composition of external ties results in differential effects on performance, even when taking internal ties into account. In all, the initial identification of external ties, in conjunction with data on internal ties, represents an important extension because external ties may operate in a different manner relative to internal ties given that they may be characterized by (a) greater geographic dispersion, (b) higher levels of goal misalignment between teams, (c) less diversity because of the voluntary nature of external ties, and (d) less face-to-face interaction, depending upon the level of communication technology.