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