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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Theoretical background<br />
early stage of change programs, including the initiation dynamics that are<br />
often neglected within the traditional project management discipline<br />
(Morris, 1989). Thirdly, the selected perspective highlights the<br />
embeddedness of projects <strong>and</strong> programs in their context (Manning, 2008;<br />
Sydow et al., 2004) <strong>and</strong> especially the continuous interaction with the<br />
parent organization (Andersen, 2006, 2008; Vaagaasar & Andersen, 2007),<br />
which is the particular focus of this dissertation.<br />
The origins of the temporary organization perspective in organizational<br />
<strong>and</strong> management literature can be traced back to accounts of temporary<br />
systems in the 1960s <strong>and</strong> 1970s (Goodman & Goodman, 1976; Miles, 1964).<br />
Goodman <strong>and</strong> Goodman (1976: 494) characterized how a temporary system<br />
involves “a set of diversely skilled people working together on a complex<br />
task over a limited time period”. They further described how temporary<br />
systems or organizations are commonly established when the task at h<strong>and</strong><br />
is complex, unique, <strong>and</strong> critical <strong>and</strong> when the task involves specific goals<br />
that set a time limit to the task, making both the task <strong>and</strong> the organization<br />
working on it temporary. Temporary systems are not limited to<br />
conventional projects <strong>and</strong> programs, but also include, <strong>for</strong> example, theatre<br />
groups, conferences, sport events, carnivals, demonstrations, election<br />
campaign organizations, juries <strong>and</strong> cockpit crews (Goodman & Goodman,<br />
1976; Miles, 1964).<br />
From the mid-1990s, an increasing number of authors have started to<br />
adopt the temporary organization perspective to examining projects <strong>and</strong><br />
programs (e.g. Ekstedt et al., 1999; Modig, 2007; Turner & Müller, 2003).<br />
The perspective is largely based on the seminal work by Lundin <strong>and</strong><br />
Söderholm who in 1995 outlined a theory of the temporary organization by<br />
introducing four interrelated concepts of time, task, team <strong>and</strong> transition.<br />
Firstly, the concept of time ultimately defines temporary organizations.<br />
Unlike more permanent organizations, temporary organizations have either<br />
a predetermined point in time or a time-related conditional state when they<br />
are expected to cease to exist (Miles, 1964; Packendorff, 1995). The<br />
existence of a time limit has implications <strong>for</strong> action <strong>and</strong> may spread a sense<br />
of urgency (Lundin & Söderholm, 1995). Secondly, similarly to the taskoriented<br />
tradition, the temporary organization perspective acknowledges<br />
that a temporary organization is built around a certain task. The task<br />
provides the rationale <strong>for</strong> the temporary organization to exist <strong>and</strong><br />
legitimizes it (ibid.). The task may be truly unique or it may be more<br />
repetitive in nature (cf. Ekstedt et al., 1999 <strong>for</strong> an analysis of the differences<br />
between unique <strong>and</strong> repetitive tasks). Thirdly, a team is <strong>for</strong>med around the<br />
task. Lundin <strong>and</strong> Söderholm emphasize how temporary organizations<br />
depend on individuals’ abilities <strong>and</strong> commitment. Temporary organizations<br />
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