Boundary activities and readiness for ... - Projekti-Instituutti

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made the change extremely challenging and even threatening towards the
existing order. A program as an organizing form also seemed to meet visible
resistance. The other program established at the same time had quickly
been absorbed into the daily routines of Center. Some interviewees
described this as a failed attempt of adopting the program management
approach in Center.
Fairly soon after the second round of interviews and the third workshop,
governmental authorities launched an initiative that aimed at renewing the
service system from a national perspective. This new initiative forced
Center to react immediately as it evidently overlapped with Center’s
program. Due to the slow progress and other severe problems, it was clear
that Center’s program was not a strong enough endeavor to compete with
the new initiative. Thus, a decision was made to terminate the Center-led
program and to assign the resources to the government initiative. The
formal decision to terminate the program was made by the board of Center,
which was followed up by rapid ramp-down activities.
In the analysis, program initiation in case Center is seen to start when the
management group made the decision to form a change program of the
proposed initiative. The analysis covers the program initiation and planning
activities until the program’s termination. Before the termination decision,
initiation and planning activities had taken almost two years.
4.1.2 Case Bureau
The second case represents a change program implemented by a large
public sector organization. The case organization, here called “Bureau”, is a
government institution organized into three main branches and supportive
functions, and into tens of local units decentralized across Finland. Bureau
works in close cooperation with a government ministry, and political
decision making affects Bureau’s operations. There is a clear division of
hierarchy, and there are formal rules and procedures guiding the activities.
Bureau has a long history of projects and project management, but there
are no standard procedures specifically designed for program management.
The case study concentrates on a program that was an essential part of a
larger structural reform in Bureau. The aim of the reform is to rationalize
national public sector activities by restructuring activities, merging
Bureau’s units into broader entities, and closing down some of its local
units. The changes aim at personnel cuts of about one third of the
employees. Cost cuts of tens of millions of euros per year have been
predicted for several forthcoming years.
The case program was among the earliest endeavors related to this larger
reform. The program aimed at renewing Bureau’s Information Technology
(IT) management, including the system architecture, the network
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