Boundary activities and readiness for ... - Projekti-Instituutti
Boundary activities and readiness for ... - Projekti-Instituutti
Boundary activities and readiness for ... - Projekti-Instituutti
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Results<br />
the parent organization <strong>and</strong> how the program actors are supposed to<br />
collaborate with those representing the line operations <strong>and</strong> other projects.<br />
Typical examples include establishing reporting procedures <strong>and</strong><br />
communication channels, <strong>and</strong> linking the program to the existing decision<br />
making bodies <strong>and</strong> instances. The examples below illustrate these <strong>activities</strong>:<br />
Q19 (Chain, sub-program manager): ”The same managers were responsible <strong>for</strong><br />
the development <strong>activities</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>for</strong> running the operations, so we naturally had<br />
a certain amount of contact with “the real life”, with the people who have spent<br />
time thinking about these issues ... This discussion was constantly active in the<br />
background.”<br />
Q20 (Center, program manager): “We have this R&D portfolio <strong>and</strong> we have<br />
categorized its projects under the sub-program titles, we have held meetings to<br />
discuss these connections.”<br />
Also representing boundary defining <strong>and</strong> shaping, task coordinating<br />
<strong>activities</strong> relate to the coordination between the program work <strong>and</strong> other<br />
work conducted within the parent organization, such as other projects or<br />
programs, <strong>and</strong> ongoing line operations. In practice, task coordination<br />
includes trading in<strong>for</strong>mation, aligning plans <strong>and</strong> schedules, <strong>and</strong> solving<br />
problems across the program’s boundary. Task coordinating <strong>activities</strong> are<br />
closely related to linking <strong>activities</strong> <strong>and</strong> sometimes difficult to distinguish<br />
from them, but while linking <strong>activities</strong> are about creating linkages <strong>and</strong><br />
ensuring connections, task coordinating <strong>activities</strong> are about utilizing those<br />
connections <strong>and</strong> coordinating the actual daily work. In this way task<br />
coordinating <strong>activities</strong> both illustrate <strong>and</strong> contribute to the permeability of<br />
the boundary. Examples of such <strong>activities</strong> are given below:<br />
Q21 (Chain, sub-program manager): ”These [permanent] portfolio steering<br />
groups focus on the technology <strong>and</strong> IT perspective, they check the rationality of<br />
[the project] <strong>and</strong> also ensure that it fits to the entity of other ongoing projects.<br />
They also coordinate IT resources.”<br />
Q22 (Bureau, unit manager actively involved in guiding program<br />
implementation): ”We have our unit’s management group meeting once every<br />
two weeks, <strong>and</strong> [the representatives of two central projects of the program] also<br />
participate in these meetings. They tell others about their projects’ situation <strong>and</strong><br />
needs, <strong>and</strong> we have discussions on where to find the required resources.”<br />
The next two types of <strong>activities</strong> are about seeking input from the parent<br />
organization to the program work, <strong>and</strong> they represent the inward directed<br />
boundary <strong>activities</strong> (Category II in Figure 12). Firstly, in<strong>for</strong>mation seeking<br />
<strong>activities</strong> aim at gathering in<strong>for</strong>mation from the parent organization to<br />
advance the program work. In<strong>for</strong>mation is sought by utilizing different<br />
kinds of <strong>for</strong>mal <strong>and</strong> in<strong>for</strong>mal methods, <strong>and</strong> it is used as input in program<br />
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