The potential for organisational innovation in highly uncertain contexts such as climate change is enhanced through “networks of learning”, involving multiple organisations, institutions, business, including research and academic disciplines, government representatives, and even consumers.
The collective intelligence produced by the combination of heterogeneous knowledge improves idea generation and innovation activity. However, “forces of fragmentation” can mean that participants are not always able to interact effectively, creating difficulties in reaching a level of shared understanding. A means to counter these forces is through the introduction of a broker who creates and maintains social ties and operates in a sparse social network, occupying a central position amongst groups of otherwise unconnected individuals.
We develop a strategic narrative using a longitudinal case study to trace processes over time to enable a deeper understanding of the mechanisms through which the broker facilities the innovation process in a transdisciplinary team. The exemplar case focuses on an urban renewal project in Broadmeadows, Melbourne carried out by Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab (VEIL), a consortium of government agencies, four universities, and a number of private firms. Preliminary semi-structured in-depth interviews undertaken with key participants including the Director of VEIL, design studio leaders, project managers, and the broker assigned the role of coordinating the project. Archival records including VEIL reports, publications and websites, along with media reports and press releases were used to better understand the contextual environment. Over a period four months from April, 2010 to July, 2010 we conducted ethnographic observation, attending a number events including the university-led design studios in which ideas were generated, screened, and conceptualised. We were given access to output from the process, including wiki pages, design briefs, reports, an eco-design publication, and attended the final exhibition of the design concepts and toured the exhibition with the broker. Open access with the broker over this period enabled us to observe how the process was unfolding, the nature of their involvement in facilitating progress, what other stakeholders had been active and the nature of their contribution.
We found the broker operating in a relational role drove the innovation process. Firstly, through a process of linking the broker used their central network position to create a collective, cooperative and inclusive context-based approach, framing awareness through engaging in initial interactions with the participants; secondly, the broker drove the co-production of knowledge across knowledge boundaries or cultures and worldviews by engaging in knowledge transfer between participants by providing inputs into the idea generating process such as outside specialists with key skills needed at crucial times, through directing formal interaction and providing feedback, reflection and reflexivity; thirdly, the broker engaged is synthesising inputs into and outputs from the innovation process.
The research contributes to the understanding of brokering as a process in facilitating innovation and overcoming fragmentation in a diverse transdisciplinary team.
5a. Corporate sustainability and CSR
