ON THE STABILITY OF COORDINATION PATTERNS IN MULTIDISCIPLINARY DESIGN PROJECTS

DS 68-3: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED 11), Impacting Society through Engineering Design, Vol. 3: Design Organisation and Management, Lyngby/Copenhagen, Denmark, 15.-19.08.2011

Year: 2011
Editor: Culley, S.J.; Hicks, B.J.; McAloone, T.C.; Howard, T.J. & Cantemessa, M.
Author: Castro, Joao; Steinert, Martin; Seering, Warren
Series: ICED
Section: Design Organisation and Management
Page(s): 245-252

Abstract

Participants in product design and development projects need to interact to coordinate the impacts and dependencies of their work on the product. Based on data from NASA rocket design projects we analyze and compare a series of product development projects within the same organization where objectives and team composition differ. We focus on the connections that are made between team members and the nature of the project and relate the two. Findings reveal that similar design problems exhibit similar dependency structures and allow for organizational learning opportunities.

Keywords: TEAM COMMUNICATION; MULTIDISCIPLINARY DESIGN; DESIGN INTERDEPENDENCIES

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