Cross-Boundary Coordination Under Organizational Stress: Communication Patterns and Resilience

Abstract

Coordination is one of the key activities that organizations must carry out on a day-to-day basis to maintain reliable performance in the face of changing conditions. When organizations come under stress it is important that they continue to maintain high levels of coordination. Yet extensive evidence suggests that organizations and individuals within them respond differently to stress, in ways that are sometimes functional and sometimes dysfunctional. We study the Continental air control tower in Newark that was built to co-locate representatives from key airline functions and key external parties in order to facilitate communication among them. Initial research was based on informal interviews and site visits, as well as secondary analysis of company documents and industry reports. In addition, using communication network data, we explore how cross-boundary coordination occurs under conditions of predictable and unpredictable stress, and how co-location can facilitate adaptation to changing conditions.