Connecting Temporary and Permanent Organizing: Tensions and Boundary Work in Sequential Film Projects

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between a permanent organization and a series of temporary organizations. It draws on an in-depth study of the process through which a Danish film production company, seeking to balance innovation and persistence in a troubled industry, struggles to realize a novel children’s film and its sequels. The study reveals tensions at different levels as well as boundary work and boundary roles that address them, bringing in shadows of past and future projects. The study extends the understanding of the dialectic between temporary and permanent organizing by emphasizing how ongoing work at different boundaries affects the permanent and temporary organizing’s connectedness and outcomes. It also challenges the overly bracketed view of temporary organizations, suggesting a temporality perspective on temporariness.