PROXIMITY DIMENSIONS AND DYNAMICS WITHIN AN ORGANISATION: EXPERIENCES FROM A CHANGE PROCESS

Eva Jenny B. Jã˜rgensen, Anja Hagen Olafsen and Etty Ragnhild Nilsen
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Eva Jenny B. Jã˜rgensen: School of Business and Economics, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Campus Alta, Norway
Anja Hagen Olafsen: ��School of Business, University of South-Eastern Norway, Campus Ringerike, Norway
Etty Ragnhild Nilsen: ��Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, University of South-Eastern Norway, Campus Porsgrunn, Norway

International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), 2022, vol. 26, issue 02, 1-25

Abstract: Proximity between actors within an organisation can be relevant for interactive learning and innovation because it promotes collaboration and knowledge exchange. However, proximity has mainly been studied as a characteristic of the relationships between actors belonging to different organisations. In this paper, a case study of a faculty at a university is used to investigate proximity within this organisation and related to a change process. Based on 23 interviews and a self-ethnographic approach, we offer a detailed micro-perspective on how the geographic, cognitive, and social dimensions of proximity influence interactive learning and innovation between employees within the organisation. We also identify two distinct proximity configurations that have emerged during the change process. Finally, we analyse how the proximity dimensions are balanced within these configurations and offer two propositions explaining their influence on interactive learning and innovation. We thereby contribute to the existing theory on proximity by extending the insight into proximity from an inter-organisational to an intra-organisational level and by adding new knowledge to the understanding of proximity dynamics.

Keywords: Proximity; proximity dynamics; organisational change; interactive learning and innovation; university (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1142/S1363919622500220

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