The dynamics and challenges of interdisciplinary collaboration: a case study of "Cortical depth of Bench" in group proposal writing

This study contributes to a discussion on collaboration and technical/professional communication in indeterminate zones or less familiar sites for collaboration. The interdisciplinary group for this case study collaborated to write a project proposal to solicit funds from the US government for constructing a test bed for immune buildings as a tactic for combating potential biological and chemical terrorist incidents. Their approach to collaboration coincided with several approaches previously addressed in professional and technical communication research. Novel and creative approaches emerged as a result of this collaboration, but in some instances, disciplinary differences, as manifested by disputes over concepts and terminologies, posed obstacles to collaboration. Such challenges necessitated strong leadership, which was also critical for managing group process.

[1]  C. Wick,et al.  Knowledge Management and Leadership Opportunities for Technical Communicators , 2000 .

[2]  R. Spilka.  Collaboration across Multiple Organizational Cultures. , 1993 .

[3]  F. W. Lancaster,et al.  Types and Levels of Collaboration in Interdisciplinary Research in the Sciences , 1997, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[4]  Charles H. Sides,et al.  COLLABORATION IN A HARDWARE TECHNICAL WRITING GROUP: A Real-world Laboratory , 1991 .

[5]  L. Sherry,et al.  The dynamics of collaborative design , 1998 .

[6]  Y. Engeström,et al.  Perspectives on activity theory: Introduction , 1999 .

[7]  Michael Schrage,et al.  No More Teams!: Mastering the Dynamics of Creative Collaboration , 1995 .

[8]  Ray Archee,et al.  Collaboration via E-Mail and Internet Relay Chat: Understanding Time and Technology. , 1996 .

[9]  Suzanne K. Bishop.  Cross-Functional Project Teams in Functionally Aligned Organizations , 1999 .

[10]  R. P. Rice,et al.  Describing collaborative forms: a profile of the team-writing process , 1994 .

[11]  I. Thompson,et al.  Collaboration in technical communication: a qualitative content analysis of journal articles, 1990-1999 , 2001 .

[12]  Greg Myers,et al.  Writing biology : texts in the social construction of scientific knowledge , 1990 .

[13]  Jeannett Martin,et al.  Genres and Registers of Discourse , 1997 .

[14]  Geoffrey A. Cross.  Forming the Collective Mind: A Contextual Exploration of Large-Scale Collabora- , 2004 .

[15]  Geoffrey C. Bowker.  Biodiversity Datadiversity , 2000 .

[16]  M. B. Debs,et al.  Recent Research on Collaborative Writing in Industry. , 1991 .

[17]  Susan Peck MacDonald,et al.  Professional academic writing in the humanities and social sciences , 1996 .

[18]  Jim Henry.  Documenting Contributory Expertise: The Value Added by Technical Communicators in Collaborative Writing Situations. , 1998 .

[19]  Barbara Mirel,et al.  Collaboration between Writers and Graphic Designers in Documentation Projects , 1995 .

[20]  T. Marchwinski,et al.  The technical communicator's role in initiating cross-functional teams , 2000 .

[21]  Lisa Ede,et al.  Singular Texts/Plural Authors: Perspectives on Collaborative Writing , 1990 .

[22]  Elke Duncker,et al.  Symbolic Communication in Multidisciplinary Cooperations , 2001 .

[23]  Donald N. McCloskey,et al.  Rhetoric Of The Human Sciences: Language And Argument In Scholarship And Public Affairs , 1987 .

[24]  David R. Seibold,et al.  Time orientation and temporal variation across work groups: Implications for group and organizational communication , 2000 .

[25]  Barbara Couture.  Discourse Interaction between Writer and Supervisor: A Primary Collaboration in Workplace Writing , 1991 .

[27]  Nancy S. Struever.  The Rhetoric of the Human Sciences , 1989 .

[28]  John Yen,et al.  Introduction , 2004, CACM.

[29]  K. Weick,et al.  Collective mind in organizations: Heedful interrelating on flight decks. , 1993 .