The Mutual Shaping of Boundaries and Boundary Organizations

As firms increasingly host online communities, they need to mediate across the divergent interests of community members and the firm. One way of addressing this is to establish a formal governance structure referred to as a boundary organization (BO). Yet, how to design such an organization is a puzzle. If a BO is effective, it is likely to reshape firm-community relations and thus needs to be adjusted to respond to this change. Therefore, BOs must constantly adapt to the boundaries they span while also changing the very same boundaries. This research seeks to understand the mutual shaping of boundaries and BOs in firm-hosted online communities. To this end, we investigate the evolution of a BO set up by a firm hosting an online community engaged in a multiplayer game called “EVE Online.” We conducted an eight-year longitudinal qualitative case study of the BO, tracing change in its practices and attendant boundaries. We show how boundaries and the BO mutually shape each other through (1) surfacing of boundary tensions, (2) BO renegotiation practices, and (3) BO’s boundary spanning practices. Based on our findings we develop a theory that shows how mutual shaping unfolds through the varied enactment of these practices along the dimensions of where the voicing of discontent is channeled, how broad representation on the BO is, and the nature of information sharing. Our research contributes to research on boundary work by theorizing how the process of mutual shaping unfolds as an instable “chain reaction” with unintended consequences.