Boundary-spanning activity and research and development management: A comparative study

Boundary-spanning activity (BSA) was studied in two departments of a large governmental research and development organization. BSA was found to be higher and to have significant effects for employees when departmental goals were unclear and technology was non-routine. Under these conditions, BSA was negatively related to role ambiguity and positively related to job satisfaction. Contrary to prior research, this study found roles with high levels of BSA to have favorable aspects for their incumbents depending upon goal clarity and type of technology of the parent organization. Implications for the management of research and development organizations are discussed.