Concerning the fit, it would be interesting to study whether a strategic project in other municipalities would cause similar progressions in the actions and interactions of people. Moreover, as a project does not necessarily need to be a separate organization (Lundin and Midler, 1998), the progressions could be examined even if a separate project organization was not created. With regard to a strategic project, which would concern area development, it would be interesting to know if equality between areas is emphasized in other municipalities. Moreover, from the time perspective, as this project did not have a defined end, it would be intriguing to know whether similar progressions, actions and perceptions would emerge or not if a project had a defined end.
With regard to the case of the present thesis, it would also have been interesting to know how the true outsiders saw the project or the development of the area specifically concerning the inclusion, as now people whose names arose mostly from the snowball
sampling, were interviewed. This could be done by acquiring a larger sample, which would probably imply the utilization of quantitative methods or alternatively, in a qualitative study, the utilization of a large research team. However, the utilization of quantitative methods might lead to the depth of answers being lost.
Although the present thesis briefly notes the role of the third sector involvement in planning and strategizing in the municipality, namely the inclusion of inhabitants through Marja-Verkko, studying it more in detail would have been interesting since the third sector inclusion is also becoming a trend as was previously brought forward in the theoretical framework. Moreover, accounting for the opinions of the individual inhabitants would be interesting and to compare those to how the city has seen the process.
The present thesis examines the strategic project and the related every day actions of individuals mainly from a retrospective perspective, as it heavily relies on the interviewees’ accounts which were given after the phenomenon had already occurred.
However, drawing from the Strategy-as-Practice and Projects-as-Practice perspectives, it would be interesting to examine the everyday actions of people in and around a strategic project as it unfolds over time. Therefore, conducting a longitudinal study in which one would participate in the everyday actions of the people, such as meetings, could also bring forward additional interesting aspects on the fit of a strategic project in municipality strategizing, which this study has possibly not been able to reveal despite utilizing for example meetings material to triangulate with the retrospective accounts.
Moreover, the aforementioned study could apply action research and try to seek improvements on the actions and issues when they actually happen.
7 CONCLUSION
Municipality development is a process which comprises the actions, interactions and interests of several people. When private sector practices such as project management are applied in a public sector organization, the interests and actions of people need to be taken into consideration since they may differ from those of the private sector as the two contexts are different. Thus, the aim of this thesis was to understand and generate knowledge about the fit of a strategic project in municipality strategizing.
The case study focused on a municipality in which a separate project organization from the line organization was created. The actions and interests of people during both the creation and the existence of a strategic project influence the fit of a strategic project in municipality strategizing. Expectations, common interest and ambitiousness can lead to the creation of a strategic project. Despite the common interest, secrecy and problems of inclusion can revolve around the creation of a strategic project. Since the strategic project can be an independent organization, progressions of actions and interests can be created. These progressions revolve around culture, inclusion of other actors and resources, which are central elements in the municipality context. These progressions comprise both good and bad aspects. On the one hand, good aspects of a separate culture include providing opportunities to create new ways to work and to combine knowledge. However, a separate culture combined with secrecy creates inequality in the organization, which is closely connected to the progression of inclusion. If the outsiders of the project are not able to participate in the work of the project either physically or through informational work, the project does not fit to its open municipality environment. Moreover, the project allows the insiders to have flexibility with regard to resourcing. Yet, due to the resource dependencies that exist in a municipality, some project outsiders are dependent on the project.
In addition to the progressions, events such as changes in management and internal conflicts in the project organization can bring the project organization to an abrupt end.
Yet, ultimately the fit concerns the interests of the people in positions of power, which in a municipality are the managers and the politicians. Therefore, the independency of the project organization with its progressions is in interplay with top management interests which at times are very individual as can be seen with regard to the strategist.
Improving the fit of a strategic project in municipality strategizing is important, since as private sector practices are taken to the public side, project management can be seen
to become more common in municipalities. Consequently, several implications for managers follow. Despite the secrecy associated with projects specifically in the private sector, the managers in municipalities should create projects openly, since the secrecy is not fitting in the municipality context, which is characterized by openness. Moreover, during the project’s existence managers should find ways to include also the outsiders of the project in the project’s work. While the physical inclusion of several people is difficult and likely impossible, the informational inclusion can be done by open communication. Moreover, job rotation and shared experiences could also contribute to achieve better inclusion.
All municipalities, due to comprising many different stakeholders, are pluralistic which means that there are inevitably different interests concerning a strategic project and also the problems of inclusion. Thus, the findings of the present thesis can likely largely be applied to other municipalities. However, the size and the shape of the municipality can possibly influence the findings. Additionally, cultural differences both deriving from the working culture in a municipality and from the larger cultural context of a country can also influence the findings. Further, the findings could also be applied to strategic projects undertaken in other pluralistic contexts such as state agencies.
Moreover, the findings could possibly be applied to municipalities in which a separate project organization is not created and it is not as drastically separated from the line organization as in the case of the present thesis, since projects do not need to be specific organizational structures.
The present thesis makes theoretical contributions to the theory on fit. Firstly, it shows the fit as a dynamic phenomenon comprising actions, interactions and interests of people in and around a structure. Secondly, it sheds light on both the internal and external fit. Similarly, to the process perspective, the case offers a dynamic view on process as actions, interactions and interests of people, also accounting for events.
Additionally, the thesis adds to the Strategy-as-Practice and Projects-as-Practice research with a retrospective study on the everyday actions of individuals.
Although the findings can likely be applied to other strategic projects undertaken in pluralistic contexts, the single case study delimits the possibilities of generalizing all the findings of the present thesis to other municipalities. Consequently, more studies should be conducted to find out if similar actions occur in other municipalities.
Moreover, the retrospective nature of the present thesis, although having the benefit of
capturing a wide picture of the everyday actions during a long process, is not able to capture, observe or improve the actions in the moment they occur.
In fact, longitudinal studies which would examine the actions of people during the very moment and which could even take an action study approach, could aid the managers and other practitioners on various levels, inside and outside the organization to improve the fit of a strategic project as it evolves.
Finally, although the fit of a strategic project in municipality strategizing can be questioned, a project provides opportunities for challenging the old practices and combining knowledge in different ways. Overall, there are still many opportunities to study strategic projects in municipalities and their fit in municipality strategizing since the fit is ultimately about people, their actions, interactions and interests which change specifically during a long process in which people change. Thus, as the title of the thesis suggests, the fit of the strategic project in municipality strategizing is a dynamic social phenomenon.
Acknowledgments
Several people aided me during my thesis process whose contribution I want to acknowledge. Firstly, I wish to thank my supervisor Virpi Sorsa for the valuable guidance and suggestions throughout the thesis process. I also want to thank my interviewees for their time and their valuable insights on the case that contributed to my understanding about it. Further, I appreciate the help of the people who either provided me with material or aided me in acquiring material concerning the case.
Moreover, I am grateful for the comments that I received from my fellow students and from the steering group of the research project my thesis forms a part of. I also want to thank my parents and boyfriend for the support and patience during the thesis process.
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