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Appendix 3: Illustrations of the different aspects of the program-parent organization boundary in the three cases
CASE CENTER
Boundary
type
Overall view in case Center Indicators in case Center Illustrative quotes
Task A fairly low task boundary in terms
of the content and goals of the
program, but a high task boundary in
terms of the process and practices in
program work, compared to Center’s
traditional way of working.
Authority A clear authority boundary caused
by the program’s lack of authority in
comparison to Center’s strong units.
Physical and
spatial
Some indicators of physical and
spatial boundaries mainly due to
Center’s distinct and separated units.
The program's topic was very close to many people's
daily work. For some, this resulted in inability to
distinguish the program work from other activities.
The program management approach was viewed as a
novel way of working, different from “normal” work and
from traditional projects.
Development activities were generally viewed as
separate from Center’s core tasks and less valuable.
The program manager did not have much authority in the
organization and was not granted a clear authority as the
program manager.
The units’ internal work was prioritized over the crossfunctional
program work.
Center’s units were traditionally separate and there was
little cross-unit collaboration.
Many Center’s experts spent much of their work time in
the geographically dispersed member organizations, and
thus it was difficult to schedule meetings so that all
people could participate.
Steering group member: “This has provided us a title, under which we have
now gathered a lot of things, but I do not see this as a very separate effort, this
is just work as usual for us.”
Peripheral program participant: “This is a program, this is not a project but a
program, so it is a novel approach … It might be just me, but it does make one
wonder what on earth this is about. Who has come up with this, and do [the top
managers] on the top floor even themselves know what they are thinking
about?”
Steering group member: “Very often our programs and projects are
disconnected [from other work]… they are forgotten after the final report has
been written.”
Steering group member: “In my view, program manager is an operational
position; he is the one running the process. … we cannot give this [significant
program] on a single expert’s responsibility, even though we may nominate
him as a program manager.”
Top manager involved in the program: “Sometimes, conflicts may be observed
between our [functional operations] that claim to have too little resources …
and the resource needs of this program.”
Top manager involved in the program: “I think that [adopting the program
management approach] requires a matrix approach, since one cannot manage
these programs unless one is able to genuinely cross the business sector and
unit borders. We have not been able to do this sufficiently and this is a great
challenge for us.”
Peripheral program participant: “Communication is always a problem in this
kind of an organization where everyone is travelling two or three days a
week.”