Information Sharing Within a Distributed, Collaborative Design Process: A Case Study

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven P. MacGregor ◽  
Avril I. Thomson ◽  
Neal P. Juster
Keyword(s):  
Information Sharing ◽  
Collaborative Design ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Personal Contact ◽  
Design Activity ◽  
Industrial Case Study ◽  
Design Project ◽  
Over Time

Abstract A current research project at the University of Strathclyde is introduced which aims to better understand the role of distributed engineering design in industry and address present problems. The first major industrial case study of the project, completed within a multinational in the oil and gas industry, is then described together with the main research questions. This multinational will be described in the text as company A. The findings are split into three areas depending on the data collection method employed. The main case study issues are investigated through interviews while a profile of current activities and perceptions comes from completed questionnaires. Sampling and analysis of distributed activity over time is served by the completion of daily diaries and direct observation. These combine to increase the understanding of information sharing and collaborative design in a distributed organization. Interviews show the importance of design reuse within the organization contrasting with the pressures of formalizing all parts of a design project. The preponderance of variant design activity is also highlighted along with concerns of continued practice. The questionnaires show that 34% of engineers’ time is spent sourcing relevant information and knowledge and that the most popular sources are company systems followed by personal contact. 18% of work is found to be distributed while colleagues from another location and another floor/department know more 51% and 57% of the time respectively. The detail design phase of a distributed design project is analysed over time which finds that most collaborative work consists of simple information exchange supplementary to the main design activity. Furthermore, concentrated periods of collaborative design are found to follow these information exchange cycles’. Distributed problems are also discussed in the paper, ranging from difficulties with unfamiliar terminology to a lack of visibility at worldwide sites.

Coopetition in a failed merger project: why two French companies called it quits

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Sophie Thelisson
Keyword(s):  
Information Sharing ◽  
Changing Environment ◽  
Global Crisis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cooperation And Competition ◽  
Integrative View ◽  
Target Company ◽  
External Events ◽  
Over Time

Purpose Coopetition includes cooperation and competition, sometimes simultaneously, among firms from a specific industry involved in a merger and acquisition (M&A) operation. However, despite their high number, most mergers end in failure. Therefore, looking at how firms cooperate and compete when planning a merger operation can be a key to better understand post-merger integration, set achievable synergies for both parties and better understand the organizational culture of both companies. Also, external events in a rapidly changing environment can affect the global strategy of organizations and impact the desire for firms to engage in mergers and acquisitions. Design/methodology/approach The author investigates how merger negotiations were conducted and influence coopetition among two firms engaged in such an operation. The author describes the project merger of two French companies using longitudinal data. Findings This in-depth case study provides new insights into coopetition dynamics during merger negotiations and the influence of a global crisis on the overall strategy of two firms. The authors specifically detail how cooperation and competition were present in M&A negotiations and how the rapidly changing environment influenced the planned operation. First, cooperation was privileged as companies enhanced information sharing and communication for their joint strategy. Then, with the evolution of the environment, new opportunities were given to the target company, which decided to quit the merger project. Therefore, both firms engaged in a competitive context as the crisis helped the target company (in difficulty at the beginning of negotiations) to develop new projects and to become a real rival of the acquiring company in its local ecosystem. Research limitations/implications The limitations are those concerning a single case study. Practical implications The study highlights the complexity of merger negotiations and the unexpected events faced by integration stakeholders. The analysis, thus, contributes to an inclusive and integrative view of the challenges in the merger process. The study questions coopetition issues in regional clusters as both firms operate in the same industry in the same region. For practitioners, the study questions how to balance the risks and rewards of coopetition activities over time. The case addresses information sharing in coopetition projects and the fear that the data and information revealed during negotiations will affect the company’s competitive advantage once the merger plan is abandoned. In the context of the rapidly changing environmental crisis, managers will reflect on continuing to cooperate with their competitors or pursuing their activities on their own. Social implications Despite their high number, M&A failures remain surprisingly high. This study explores how stakeholders deal with merger negotiations and how external events impact such negotiations and merger projects by raising coopetitive tensions among firms. Originality/value The case provides a vivid illustration of firms’ adaptation to a rapidly evolving context due to a global crisis. The research questions coopetition in business ecosystems and the unexpected in merger processes. The study addresses critical risks in knowledge exchange during merger negotiations and coopetitive dynamics among stakeholders over time. Theoretical concepts and empirical findings from the literature are combined to present a single consistent picture.

The Maintenance and Handling of Constraints in Machine Design

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Matthews ◽  
Lian Ding ◽  
Jonathan Feldman ◽  
Glen Mullineux
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Machine Design ◽  
Design Activity ◽  
Industrial Case Study ◽  
Design Constraints ◽  
Engineering Design Process ◽  
Design Variation ◽  
Single Objective ◽  
Machinery Design

The engineering design process can be considered to be constraint oriented. It involves the identification, negotiation and resolution of an evolving set of constraints. The nature of engineering design is that such problems are rarely as simple as satisfying a single objective with all the design variation continuous and unbounded. Previous research has shown that as the design evolves, the designer can miss or overlook some of these constraints. To overcome this, the paper presents a supportive approach which allows the designer to annotate the initial CAD drawn models with the design constraints. These constraints are then maintained with the model as it evolves, this presents the opportunity to refine the constraints when the design activity requires. The approach has been created to support manufacturing machinery design and is demonstrated with an industrial case study.

scholarly journals Who is Who? Identifying the Different Sub-groups of Secondary Stakeholders within a Community: A Case Study of the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria Communities

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 188
Author(s):  
Oluyomi A. Osobajo ◽  
David Moore
Keyword(s):  
Niger Delta ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Delta Region ◽  
Community Stakeholder ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Niger Delta Region ◽  
Nigerian Government ◽  
Over Time

The Nigerian oil and gas industry (NOGI) has over time been dominated by the Nigerian government and oil producing companies (OPCs). The influences of the community stakeholder on OPCs in the last three decades have been expressed in diverse ways by different community sub-groups through their concerns and interests, some of which have severely impacted on the NOGI. Community within this context is categorised as a primary stakeholder, while the sub-groups are secondary stakeholders that emerge from within the community. Hence, the success of the NOGI largely depends on the Nigerian government and the oil producing companies, and other players such as Non-Governmental Organisations recognising the community as a key player and having appropriate knowledge of the different sub-groups of secondary stakeholders within the community in order to understand their intentions, behaviour, interests, influences and interrelations. Such knowledge is relevant to the NOGI’s formulation of future oil and gas strategy.This study commences with an overview of the primary stakeholders (i.e. the Nigerian government, OPC and the community), their respective activities, participation and the link between these stakeholders with a specific focus on the NOGI context. Subsequently, various sub-groups of secondary stakeholders within the community and their respective interest(s) are identified in detail.

Web Information Based Collaborative Product Growth Design

2009 ◽  
Vol 628-629 ◽  
pp. 25-30
Author(s):  
Bo Yang ◽  
X.B. Ze ◽  
W.H. Cui
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Design ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Design Theory ◽  
Design Method ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Structure Design ◽  
Design System ◽  
Design Activity ◽  
Virtual Design ◽  
Web Based

Based on the survey of existing research work on collaborative design and on our experiences and work in product growth design theory, a feasible approach—collaborative product growth design method to integrate the genetic engineering methodology, collaborating tools and web based information into the automatic design activity has been proposed in this paper. Firstly, the product growth design strategy and its characteristics are studied based on automation technology in the product structure design. Then, to guarantee a successful transformation and good use of existing product data and related product series on internet, the information exchange model and web based virtual design gene pool model in the process of product growth design are put forward. Finally, the mechanism of the combination of product growth design and collaborative design process are described, and the framework of collaborative design based product growth design system is introduced. Through theoretical study and hard development work interesting and useful results have been obtained.

Reliability of quantitative risk analysis through an industrial case study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Attia ◽  
Jyoti K. Sinha
Keyword(s):  
Risk Model ◽  
Storage Temperature ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Risk Tolerance ◽  
Event Tree ◽  
Industrial Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Inspection And Maintenance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the reliability of the quantitative risk model used for planning inspection and maintenance activities. The objective is to critically discuss the factors that contribute to the probability and consequence of failure calculations.Design/methodology/approachThe case study conducted using one of the most widely deployed risk models in the oil and gas industry where a full assessment was performed on an offshore gas producing platform.FindingsThe generic failure frequencies used as the basis for calculating the probability of failure are set at a value representative of the refining and petrochemical industry's failure data. This failure database does not cover offshore. The critical discussion indicated the lack of basis of the coefficient of variances, prior probabilities and conditional probabilities. Moreover, the risk model does not address the distribution of thickness measurements, corrosion rates and inspection effectiveness, whereas only overall deterministic values are used; this requires judgment to determine these values. Probabilities of ignition, probabilities of delayed ignition and other probabilities in Level 1 event tree are found selected based on expert judgment for each of the reference fluids and release types (i.e. continuous or instantaneous). These probabilities are constant and independent of the release rate or mass and lack of constructed model. Defining the release type is critical in the consequence of the failure methodology, whereas the calculated consequences differ greatly depending on the type of release, i.e. continuous or instantaneous. The assessment results show that both criteria of defining the type of release, i.e. continuous or instantaneous, do not affect the calculations of flammable consequences when the auto-ignition likely is zero at the storage temperature. While, the difference in the resulted toxic consequence was more than 31 times between the two criteria of defining the type of release.Research limitations/implicationsThere is a need to revamp this quantitative risk model to minimize the subjectivity in the risk calculation and to address the unique design features of offshore platforms.Originality/valueThis case study critically discuss the risk model being widely applied in the O&G industry and demonstrates to the end-users the subjectivity in the risk results. Hence, be vigilant when establishing the risk tolerance/target for the purpose of inspection and maintenance planning.

The increase of productivity over time—an industrial case study

2006 ◽  
Vol 48 (9) ◽  
pp. 915-927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Tomaszewski ◽  
Lars Lundberg
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Case Study ◽  
Over Time

Causing a Stir

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilo POTOCNJAK-OXMAN
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Collaborative Design ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Design Team ◽  
Design Processes ◽  
Early Stages

Stir was a crowd-voted grants platform aimed at supporting creative youth in the early stages of an entrepreneurial journey. Developed through an in-depth, collaborative design process, between 2015 and 2018 it received close to two hundred projects and distributed over fifty grants to emerging creatives and became one of the most impactful programs aimed at increasing entrepreneurial activity in Canberra, Australia. The following case study will provide an overview of the methodology and process used by the design team in conceiving and developing this platform, highlighting how the community’s interests and competencies were embedded in the project itself. The case provides insights for people leading collaborative design processes, with specific emphasis on some of the characteristics on programs targeting creative youth

When Culturally Significant Songs are Decontextualised: The Initiation Song Somagwaza, A Case Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
T Dowling ◽  
Somikazi Deyi ◽  
Anele Gobodwana
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Popular Song ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Ritual Music ◽  
Constant Comparative Method ◽  
Small Focus ◽  
Over Time

While there have been a number of studies on the decontextualisation and secularisation of traditional ritual music in America, Taiwan and other parts of the globe, very little has been written on the processes and transformations that South Africa’s indigenous ceremonial songs go through over time. This study was prompted by the authors’ interest in, and engagement with the Xhosa initiation song Somagwaza, which has been re-imagined as a popular song, but has also purportedly found its way into other religious spaces. In this article, we attempted to investigate the extent to which the song Somagwaza is still associated with the Xhosa initiation ritual and to analyse evidence of it being decontextualised and secularised in contemporary South Africa. Our methodology included an examination of the various academic treatments of the song, an analysis of the lyrics of a popular song, bearing the same name, holding small focus group discussions, and distributing questionnaires to speakers of isiXhosa on the topic of the song. The data gathered were analysed using the constant comparative method of analysing qualitative research.

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