Stuck in Temporal Translation? Challenges of discrepant temporal structures in interorganizational project collaboration

Abstract

The effects of different temporal structures among actors in interorganizational projects can be hugely consequential, especially for large societal projects. By applying a temporal translation view to a real-time study of an interorganizational project, we studied the influence of differences between such structures during the collaboration. We found that the three participating organizations, having distinctly different temporal structures, adopted different modes of translation, which we identified as integrative, adaptive and transformative. These different modes of translation affected dramatically how the project unfolded, as they impacted differently the time and effort required to adapt to common schedules and deadlines. Our study contributes a processual extension of entrainment theory by shedding light on entrainment as ongoing accomplishment enabled by a translation view. It also contributes to a processual understanding of the temporality of interorganizational projects.