Boundary spanning knowledge broker: An emerging role in global engineering firms

With the emergence of globalization, engineering firms as well as engineers that work in those firms are faced with new opportunities and challenges. Recent globalization has led to new work roles for engineers. Whether formally or informally, an increasing number of engineers are now playing the role of boundary spanners and are brokering knowledge across geographic boundaries. In this paper I present a case study to identify the requirements and characteristics of this role. The data for this paper comes from two sources: selected interviews with software engineers and an ethnographic study of a global engineering R&D firm. The informants represent the U.S., Japan, and India. The findings show that agency of workers in the midlevel of the organizational hierarchy drives successful global practices. Moreover, given the dynamic nature of work in the present knowledge economy, the requirements of this role keep changing. In addition to skills such as working across time zones, using technology effectively, and developing interpersonal networks, there are additional tacit aspects of this role that can be learned only through participation. I present and analytical model and discuss the relevance of these findings for preparing engineers for the global workforce.