Consider the massive recovery response that included over 25,000 professionals and volunteers representing more than 120 organizations tasked with locating both human remains and vehicle debris following the Space Shuttle tragedy. Despite the daunting scope of the initial search area – 2.28 million acres of land – participating members were successful in their efforts to achieve the collective's goals. We contend that the response effort was effective because relatively disparate organizations and governmental agencies came together and ultimately exemplified the hallmarks of high reliability organizing (HRO). Our study explores how the transition in boundaries made this possible. Using interview and secondary data from our case study, we explore how individuals engaged in boundary work that facilitated boundary transformation. Specifically, we document how individuals interacted with a data visualization system to temper the physical, social, temporal, and scope boundary tensions initially present following the disaster. Amidst an emergent, messy, and complex setting, the interaction with a boundary object allowed for unity in diversity of participating organizations, a common language through mapping, a form of trichordal temporal and rapid sensemaking, and a foundation for dynamic decision making. Therefore, our study yields critical insights into how organizational members engage in boundary work to aid HRO collaborations.

中文翻译：

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组织间协作中的边界工作和高可靠性组织


想想在航天飞机悲剧发生后，大规模的救援行动，其中包括代表 120 多个组织的 25,000 多名专业人员和志愿者，其任务是寻找人类遗骸和车辆残骸。尽管最初的搜索区域范围令人望而生畏——228万英亩的土地，但参与成员们成功地实现了集体目标。我们认为，响应工作是有效的，因为相对不同的组织和政府机构走到了一起，并最终体现了高可靠性组织（HRO）的标志。我们的研究探讨了边界的转变如何使这成为可能。利用访谈和案例研究中的二手数据，我们探讨了个人如何参与促进边界转变的边界工作。具体来说，我们记录了个人如何与数据可视化系统进行交互，以缓和灾难发生后最初出现的物理、社会、时间和范围边界紧张局势。在紧急、混乱和复杂的环境中，与边界对象的交互允许参与组织的多样性的统一，通过映射形成共同语言，一种三弦时间和快速意义建构的形式，以及动态决策的基础。因此，我们的研究对组织成员如何参与边界工作以协助 HRO 协作提供了重要见解。