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 />
change program’s central managers per<strong>for</strong>m during the early program<br />
stage. The association of the boundary <strong>activities</strong> with the success of change<br />
program initiation is explored by analyzing the connection of boundary<br />
<strong>activities</strong> to <strong>readiness</strong> <strong>for</strong> change program implementation.<br />
The aim of the study is to increase underst<strong>and</strong>ing of the central <strong>activities</strong><br />
that are required to make a change program viable <strong>and</strong> implementable. The<br />
study further aims to analyze the role the organizational environment plays<br />
in this process. Contextual factors are examined on three levels, including<br />
the program’s characteristics, the parent organization’s characteristics, <strong>and</strong><br />
individual characteristics of the involved managers.<br />
The main research question of the study is:<br />
How are the boundary <strong>activities</strong> concerning the boundary between the<br />
program <strong>and</strong> the parent organization associated with the success of<br />
change program initiation?<br />
More detailed research questions guiding the study are listed below:<br />
1. How is the boundary between a change program <strong>and</strong> its parent<br />
organization manifested?<br />
2. How, through what kinds of <strong>activities</strong>, is the boundary between a<br />
change program <strong>and</strong> its parent organization managed during<br />
program initiation?<br />
3. What are the indicators of successful change program initiation in<br />
terms of <strong>readiness</strong> <strong>for</strong> change program implementation?<br />
4. How are the boundary <strong>activities</strong> associated with creating<br />
<strong>readiness</strong> <strong>for</strong> change program implementation?<br />
5. Which contextual factors may impact the use of boundary <strong>activities</strong><br />
in building <strong>readiness</strong> <strong>for</strong> change program implementation?<br />
The first research question characterizes the nature of the boundary<br />
between the emerging program <strong>and</strong> the parent organization. Following<br />
Aldrich <strong>and</strong> Herker (1977) <strong>and</strong> as in most of the empirical research on<br />
organizational boundaries, in this study the existence of the boundary is<br />
assumed, <strong>and</strong> the boundary is drawn from the organizational perspective.<br />
Change programs are viewed as temporary organizations, <strong>and</strong> the<br />
characteristics of a temporary organization, especially in terms of the<br />
devoted team, special task, <strong>and</strong> limited time (Lundin & Söderholm, 1995),<br />
are viewed to define the program <strong>and</strong> its boundaries. The goals of a change<br />
program define the program in terms of tasks <strong>and</strong> <strong>activities</strong>, <strong>and</strong> the limited<br />
time frame defines the program in terms of time. The program organization<br />
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