Understanding the "Boundary" in Information Sharing and Integration

The definition of "boundary" in the context of multi-organizational information sharing and integration initiatives is developed in the paper. Both current literature and a case study of the product safety inspection environment are used to drive the development of a dual-directional, multi-dimensional and non-linear framework for understanding the meaning of "boundary". The two directions are the vertical and horizontal directions and the multi-dimensions include organizational, geographic, personal, development phase, and process. The framework can be used both as a theoretical model for researchers and a comprehensive analytic tool for practitioners.