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

Theoretical background
of a given, clear and plannable task, i.e., that plans can be defined in detail
at the beginning of the project. However, projects often involve high levels
of uncertainty, especially in the beginning (Andersen, 2008). The project
manager is given an initial assignment, but often a lot of interaction and
negotiation is required both within the project team and with external
stakeholders in order to refine the project goals and scope (Ives, 2005).
Especially in truly unique projects, such as in organizational change efforts,
it may be impossible to create detailed plans at the outset (Andersen, 2006;
2008). Particularly in turbulent environments, changes to the plans can be
expected due to changing conditions and stakeholder requirements (Collyer
& Warren, 2009).
As a further criticism, the task-oriented perspective has been described as
too project-centric, viewing projects as isolated and independent “islands”
(Engwall, 2003). The focus of the task-oriented project management
tradition has been solely on projects, and their relations with permanent
organizations and other elements of their organizational context have been
largely neglected. In reality, projects do not and cannot exist in isolation,
but are in many ways embedded in their context (Andersen, 2008; Ekstedt
et al., 1999). Increasingly, researchers have acknowledged how projects are
enabled and inhibited by their parent organizations, other stakeholders and
the wider institutional context (e.g. Jensen et al., 2006; Manning, 2008;
Modig, 2007; Sydow, Lindqvist, & DeFillippi, 2004).
Building on this criticism, especially Scandinavian scholars have called for
an alternative perspective to the overly rationalistic and mechanistic project
management, viewing projects as temporary organizations (Andersen,
2006; Ekstedt et al., 1999; Løvendahl, 1995; Lundin & Söderholm, 1995;
Lundin & Steinthórsson, 2003; Packendorff, 1995). In line with this view,
Andersen (2008: 10) defines a project as “a temporary organization,
established by its base organization to carry out an assignment on its
behalf”. Similarly, Turner and Müller (2003: 4) define a project as “a
temporary organization designed to deliver a specific set of change
objectives”. The proponents of the perspective examine the nature of
projects and programs as temporary organizations (Ekstedt et al., 1999;
Lundin & Söderholm, 1995). The parent organization of a project or a
program, also called the base organization (Andersen, 2008), host
organization (Heller, 1999), or mother organization (Shenhar & Dvir, 1996),
is viewed as a permanent organization, since its lifetime is not limited
beforehand (Andersen, 2008). Unlike permanent organizations that are
designed for repetitive routine activities and focus on maintaining the
current order, temporary organizations are designed for change and they
offer more flexibility and a focused, accomplishment-oriented approach
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