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

Theoretical background
organization, that have an effect on the management and success of change
program initiation. These contextual factors will be examined on three
levels: the program’s characteristics, the parent organization’s
characteristics, and the individual characteristics of the involved key actors.
The next section reviews existing literature on the contextuality of
projects, programs and other temporary organizations.
2.3.2 Contextuality of temporary organizations
Traditionally, project management research has taken an inward-looking
perspective, viewing projects as isolated entities or as independent “islands”
(Engwall, 2003). Nowadays an increasing number of researchers
acknowledge that projects and programs are in many ways embedded in the
wider context (Blomquist & Packendorff, 1998; Hällgren & Maaninen-
Olsson, 2005; Jensen et al., 2006; Manning, 2008; Modig, 2007; Sydow et
al., 2004). Projects and programs have relations with previous,
simultaneous and future activities and projects, and with the traditions and
norms of their organizational context (Engwall, 2003). Similarly to all
organizational activities, projects and programs are affected by their
economic, political, social, technical, legal, and environmental contexts
(Harpham, 2000).
In line with the contextual view, an increasing number of authors have
adopted an open systems perspective to projects and programs (e.g. Artto,
Martinsuo, Dietrich, & Kujala, 2008; Crawford & Pollack, 2004; Hellström
& Wikström, 2005; Morris, 1988). There is also a growing stream of
research that takes a contingency view of projects, arguing that different
kinds of projects and programs require different management approaches
(e.g. Blomquist & Müller, 2006; Dietrich, 2007; Larson & Gobeli, 1989;
Sauser et al., 2009; Shenhar & Dvir, 1996; Shenhar, Tishler, Dvir,
Lipovetsky, & Lechler, 2002). In addition to the “classical” project-related
contingency factors like the project size and type, recent studies argue that
also the external environment of the projects and programs affects their
management, as the context simultaneously enables and inhibits the
projects’ actions (Modig, 2007; Pellegrinelli et al., 2007). Engwall’s (2003)
findings suggest that the probability of smooth and efficient project
execution is greater if the project’s purpose and the employed practices are
aligned with the ideas, structures and behavioral patterns of the
surrounding organization(s).
Traditionally, project and program management literature has addressed
the projects’ and programs’ interplay with their context indirectly, through
stakeholder management, communications management, and purchasing
management (e.g. Office of Government Commerce, 2007; Project
Management Institute, 2004, 2006). For example, Bourne and Walker
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