Large-Scale Innovative Projects as Temporary Trading Zones: Toward an Interlanguage Theory

Large-scale innovative projects (LSIPs) play a central role in arranging for exploratory and strategic opportunity seeking that transcends organizational and disciplinary boundaries. This paper outlines a theory that addresses the two most salient characteristics of such organizations: their extreme task uniqueness and high degree of interdisciplinarity. Drawing on the work of Peter Galison and the case of the Radiation Laboratory project, we...