| dc.description.abstract | Transformation is an inevitable fact that any organization in any industry or sector might need to undertake. Very many reasons could trigger or force organizations to plan and execute transforming change processes. Project management is a legitimate alternative which could be employed for leading such processes. There are advocating and opposing arguments to explain how good project management could handle managing a large and complicated change process.
The departure point for this thesis is my specialization course s project which focused on stated area, and tried to answer how project management could serve implementing a transforming change process, and what project manager role, needed skills, contribution or challenges could be. By performing a literature study, I established that project management could be used to manage organizational change processes, but with some considerations. I also concluded that project manager is a significant actor, but might lack some managerial and behavioral skills to meet transformation s requirements. Figure 3 demonstrates my theoretical results.
This thesis is built upon mentioned theoretical fundament and tend to examine those conclusions in a real setting. Paper presents a case study of a transforming change project in form of a municipal merger. Through interviews by representatives from merging parties and some documents related to the case, I examined how my theoretical results could represent or explain case s experiences and performance. My findings suggest that project management could lead the change process reasonably while it is important to establish an integrated project management system to assure performing vital PM practices. In addition, findings recommend that organizational culture, assuring clear understanding of change s visions and strategy, and leadership involvement and support, are significant success factors or considerations that project management should take into account in transforming change projects. Data analysis could not establish a solid suggestion for post-project requirements in organizational change, but enabled me to improve my primary discussions. Moreover, findings establish project manager s role as a central actor who need to show both technical and managerial competences, have sufficient authority to keep his or her focal role, and could utilize communication to influence project s path and destiny. Lastly, findings suggest that change management framework is need to support project management by providing a change management office or center of excellence based on contextual and project management characteristics and requirements. There are two certain limited areas in thesis which will be addressed later. | |
