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

Theoretical background
As the early program stage involves significant levels of uncertainty and
ambiguity (Thiry, 2004a, 2004b), initiation and planning activities of a
program differ from smaller and more clearly defined projects. Converting
from traditional project management, program management models
describe how specific objectives may not be known when programs are
established, but they may start with abstract visions and goals, and the
more specific objectives are elaborated and adjusted along the journey as
the program evolves in line with the business needs and environmental
conditions (Pellegrinelli, 1997; Thiry, 2004b). Initial definitions provide a
general path for the program, but iteration and changes are to be expected
during the later stages (Lehner, 2009).
Program management literature describes the program plan as the main
output of the early program stage. In general, program and project plans
are attempts to define the intended future (Atkinson et al., 2006), and they
influence tradeoffs and priorities (Graham, 2000). Plans also have other
purposes: they reduce uncertainty by their very existence and they
legitimize action (Lundin & Söderholm, 1995). Especially in change
programs it is often not the plan itself that is important, but rather the
planning activity and the related learning (Yeo, 1995). Correspondingly,
Thiry (2002, 2004a) stresses the importance of feedback and learning and
argues that program initiation is more a question of sensemaking, intuition,
and creativity than planning and control. Lehner (2009) similarly describes
how planning in dynamic and uncertain situations involves large amounts
of information gathering, cooperation and integration of people with
different backgrounds, and is mainly a process of interpretation. Crawford
and Pollack (2004) suggest that since change initiatives (projects and
programs) tend to involve ill-defined goals and methods, they require soft
systems thinking. Such soft methods acknowledge goal ambiguity by
focusing on problem definition, exploration and learning and place
emphasis on negotiation, debate and accommodation.
Although the special nature and challenges related to early program
stages are largely reported, there is very limited research evidence of the
actual practices in establishing and planning change programs. Conceptual
literature concerning the early program and project stages has listed early
activities such as business case development, selection of management
activities, design of the program organization, program plan creation, and
identification and allocation of resources (e.g. Murray-Webster & Thiry,
2000). Many of these activities involve cooperation with people external to
the program team. The influence of the various stakeholder groups is
emphasized during the early stage, as they may have different and even
conflicting interests and ambitions towards the program (Kolltveit &
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