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 />
managed. With the rise of the contextual view of projects <strong>and</strong> programs,<br />
there is a need <strong>for</strong> research evidence on boundary <strong>activities</strong> in the<br />
temporary organization context. In particular, further empirical research<br />
has been called <strong>for</strong> to study boundaries beyond product development<br />
contexts (Choi, 2002) <strong>and</strong> to distinguish between the different types of<br />
boundary <strong>activities</strong> in the varying contexts (Drach-Zahavy & Somech,<br />
2010). Existing studies do not explain how a boundary emerges between a<br />
temporary program <strong>and</strong> its parent organization, or how this boundary is<br />
managed during the early program stage through different types of<br />
boundary <strong>activities</strong>. The current study aims to address these gaps in the<br />
extant literature.<br />
2.5 Synthesis of the literature review: Research framework<br />
This section summarizes the literature review. From the perspective of the<br />
current study, the examined streams of literature are compared <strong>and</strong> the<br />
main points are summarized. The initial framework guiding the research is<br />
constructed <strong>and</strong> detailed research questions are presented.<br />
2.5.1 Summary of the literature review<br />
This dissertation focuses on change programs, defined as temporary<br />
organizations in which multiple projects are managed together to deliver a<br />
change in the parent organization. The temporary organization perspective<br />
advocated by the contemporary Sc<strong>and</strong>inavian school of project<br />
management provides a basis <strong>for</strong> the study. Change programs are analyzed<br />
as temporary organizations that operate within permanent parent<br />
organizations. This perspective directs attention to the temporary<br />
organization’s relations with its organizational environment, which have<br />
largely been neglected within the traditional, task or vehicle-oriented<br />
project management research.<br />
As the study focuses on change programs, the research is also in<strong>for</strong>med of<br />
the literature on large-scale organizational change. Although research on<br />
organizational change has brought <strong>for</strong>ward models, guidelines, <strong>and</strong> best<br />
practices <strong>for</strong> managing large-scale change in organizations, it has not given<br />
much attention to the program nature of change <strong>and</strong> to the program team, a<br />
temporary organization that is put in charge of managing change. On the<br />
other h<strong>and</strong>, traditional project management wisdom has not sufficiently<br />
taken into account the special nature of organizational change. Compared<br />
to the conventional project management principles, program management<br />
literature aims to address many of the acclaimed shortcomings of the<br />
project management approach, providing an alternative to the traditional<br />
closed-system, tool-based project management. Program management<br />
provides structure <strong>and</strong> control <strong>for</strong> managing change, simultaneously<br />
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