The management of organizational boundaries: a case study
Résumé
This paper aims at understanding organizational boundaries in their different dimensions : internal and external, horizontal and vertical, static and dynamic. It first gives a definition of the phenomenon : a boundary is a potential or actuel mechanism that rarefies or regulates flows between two heterogeneous spaces, and make these flows visible. It then formulates three propositions : 1. There are no such things as "natural boundaries". Organizational boundaries are the result of decisions about capability units that are always debated. 2. Once established, boundaries tend to be stable and to become entrenched. 3. Even when they are entrenched, boundaries remain debatable. When controversies intensity, strategies aiming at maintaining them develop in response. A case study allows a discussion of these propositions. The selected case is the Air Traffic Management Industry in Europe.