Understanding knowledge integration over time and space

The aim of this paper is to analyse knowledge integration in the creative process of globally distributed teams, while they develop new products. Mainstream researches and studies focus on knowledge integration in terms of transfer of knowledge; they highlight its relevance with respect to innovation and creativity and investigate the conditions that assure or inhibit it. The creative process of globally distributed teams is fairly unexplored by the literature. With only few exceptions, the literature focuses on virtual teams, that is distributed teams where factors such as culture, time zone and language do not have relevance with respect to the development of the activities by team members. We concentrate our efforts in looking for “how” and “why” knowledge integration happens within the creative process in new product development projects of globally distributed teams. For this reason, we shall rely on a research method founded on the notions of adequate causation and objective possibility. This approach overcomes the limits of relativism and at the same time enhances the plurality of accounts that can be given in understanding individual social phenomena.