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

Results
has been vital to show that benefits are already being realized from this [early
implementation]; it has contributed to the positive atmosphere surrounding this
program.”
Table 17 indicates how boundary activities also contributed to reaching a
clear and shared vision, a common sense of direction and an agreement on
the program goals. Firstly, positioning and negotiating activities were
performed to build a shared understanding of the program vision and goals.
All three cases indicated active discussions between the key program actors
and those representing the parent organization to set the program goals
and scope. Such positioning and negotiating activities were especially
frequent in Center, where the key program actors held several meetings
with top managers to define program goals:
Q58 (Center, expert involved in program initiation): “[Goal setting] was a
process where we first decided upon the sub-programs … and after that we
discussed the goals, and what should be achieved with the program. … Our top
managers and unit managers have been involved in these discussions.”
The analysis shows how information seeking activities were also utilized to
build a shared intent for the programs and to define program goals. During
program initiation, key program actors conducted interviews and had
informal discussions with representatives of the parent organization with
an aim to come up with a commonly agreed goal statement for the program.
The following quote shows how a sub-program manager in Chain
accentuated the importance of involving representatives of the parent
organization in the early discussions:
Q59 (Chain, sub-program manager): “The initiation stage and the related
requirements specification are very important; it pays off to put effort to that
phase and to have those discussions. That is how you seek the common goal and
try to identify issues that should be worked out after the new solution is
implemented.”
Table 17 further shows how many different types of boundary activities
seemed to have a role in creating a purposeful plan for the change content,
process and program structure. Firstly, representing positioning and
negotiating activities, the analysis indicates how negotiations with the line
management contributed to developing the program plans. The following
example from Chain illustrates this collaboration:
Q60 (Chain, development area director and original chairman of the steering
group): “[During the planning phase] we organized a workshop or two. We
prepared for these workshops with a small project where a couple of experts
gathered background information. This data gathering was, to a large extent,
led by [a unit in the line organization] … but representatives and experts of
other business units also participated in these workshops. … There we identified
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