Understanding boundaries in the work of boundary practices: a case study on a practice of business analysts

While there is a growing literature in boundary spanning, there is very little research that (a) examines boundary practices (b) empirically locates boundaries in experiences and expectations of actors involved in boundary interactions and (c) provides actionable advice to practitioners in boundary roles. This paper attempts to address such concerns by investigating the boundary practice of business analysts (BAs) that connects users and IT staff. We report findings from an interpretive case study of a group of business analysts working in a large company that provides mail and parcel services. For boundary practice, our findings include: (a) boundary practice introduces new boundaries (b) 'boundary practitioners' face challenges not only in spanning boundaries between practices they connect but also in negotiating boundaries that they introduce. For BAs, we note that (a) having business and technical knowledge is not the most important requirement to meet expectation of users and IT staff (b) they would better meet expectations by focusing on analytical abilities and enabling users to better understand their requirements (c) they are expected to play an increasing role throughout the project lifecycle and (d) they are expected to increase their solution orientation