Challenges in Globally Distributed Design Teams: A Case Study

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. C. Hayes
Keyword(s):  
Design Teams ◽  
Implantable Medical Devices ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Design Engineers ◽  
The People ◽  
Geographically Distributed ◽  
A Company ◽  
Globally Distributed ◽  
New Location

This paper describes barriers to effective collaboration between geographically distributed experts jointly participating in design of medical products. The barriers were observed during a study conducted at a company which produces implantable medical devices such as pacemakers and defibulators, but the issues are typical of most international product producing companies. The company commissioned the study because they experienced serious manufacturing difficulties after moving their manufacturing facility to a new location where labor was less expensive, several thousand miles distant from design facility. The company suspected that the difficulties stemmed from insufficient communication and collaboration between the now distant design engineers and manufacturing engineers, but they lacked a sufficiently detailed understanding of the causes to formulate effective solutions. Electronic tools had not resolved the problems. The study found that the added distance greatly exacerbated many existing design/manufacturing collaboration challenges that occur in most organizations even when the two are located at the same site. Additionally, distance resulted in a decay of familiarity between sites with the people, processes and expertise at the other site. More explicit structure and incentives were needed to help distant team members overcome the added collaboration difficulties created by distance. The study concluded that one while one needs appropriate electronic tools to make it possible for distant design team members to communicate easily, additionally, an organization must provide appropriate processes, incentives and resources to motivate people to collaborate over distance.

Knowledge Sharing in Project Environments

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Zinga Novais ◽  
Jorge Vareda Gomes ◽  
Mário José Batista Romão
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Project Team ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Business Operations ◽  
Successful Execution ◽  
Management Project ◽  
A Company

Projects have been increasingly used in the implementation of organizations' business operations. Knowledge sharing has been considered essential in project environment; therefore, the integration of knowledge management within project management becomes crucial for project success. The objective of this research is to study how knowledge sharing is integrated within the context of a project, and what is the perception of project team members about it. A case study was carried out in a company within the financial sector, focused on a project team of the entity. The results revealed that project managers, other professionals in project management, and the organization itself are very much aware of the importance of knowledge sharing. The results also emphasized that, regardless of the lack of incentives by top management, project team members consider that knowledge sharing highly contributes for a successful execution of projects.

Can Process Metrics Predict Product Success?: A Pilot Study of Student Design Teams

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Bracken ◽  
Francis Xavier Glavin ◽  
Daniel Henderson ◽  
Kathryn Jablokow ◽  
Neeraj Sonalkar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Design Teams ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Product Success ◽  
Team Interactions ◽  
Successful Team ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Video And Audio ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Engineering Projects

Abstract Engineering projects typically revolve around producing a deliverable. That deliverable goes to a customer, who either deems it acceptable or in need of further work. The engineering analysis and components of whatever system is to be produced are the subject of much scrutiny. However, the human process composed of team interactions that lead up to creating that final product is frequently treated as a “black box” that simply produces an output. In order to identify what factors in that process are key to a successful product, this work seeks to identify what successful engineering design teams do differently than less successful teams. As part of our larger research project, metrics for measuring team performance during the process of design have also been created. In this paper, we use three of those metrics in a case study of 5 senior-level student design teams. These data are employed in conjunction with feedback from the instructor, acting as their customer, to identify which behaviors had strong links with more successful team results. We also investigate whether any of the behaviors exhibited by the teams correspond to worse results, in order to identify behaviors with the potential to be used to predict poorer performance in advance. This analysis is completed using data collected via a mid-term survey and an end-of-project survey (both completed by the team members), in addition to video and audio meeting data, and data collected from both midterm and final presentations. We present these results as an avenue to move us towards enabling engineers to choose to engage knowingly in behaviors that correlate with better project results.

A Case Study on Educating Engineers for Geographically-Dispersed Design Teams

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Dannenhoffer ◽  
Barry D. Davidson ◽  
Anthony R. Ingraffea ◽  
Alan T. Zehnder ◽  
Scott L. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Design ◽  
Design Teams ◽  
Launch Vehicles ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Reusable Launch Vehicles ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
Asynchronous Communications ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Computer Based

The mantra of industry today is to design products and processes using collaborative design teams. While the potential benefits of such a design philosophy are numerous and significant, many organizations find themselves falling short in the implementation. Sometimes these shortcomings are due to cultural and technical difficulties in the organization, but too frequently they are due to a lack of knowledge as to how to collaborate effectively. Described herein is an educational initiative by Syracuse and Cornell Universities to together teach collaborative design methodologies through a common two-semester, senior-level engineering design course. In the course, not only are the lectures taught to the two cohorts of students using at-a-distance technologies, but the students are teamed in cross-university teams to execute a series of 6-week design challenges, from preliminary through detailed thermal-structural design of the external skins of seconds-generation reusable launch vehicles. An Advanced Interactive Discovery Environment (AIDE), which is a computer-based infrastructure specifically designed for this course, is used to support both synchronous and asynchronous communications amongst the team members and with the faculty. Extensive surveys of the students, together with faculty observations, indicate that proper use of collaboration tools can facilitate effective geographically-dispersed design teams, making them as successful as local design teams.

Communication and Awareness Patterns of Distributed Agile Teams

2015 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Irum Inayat ◽  
Siti Salwah Salim ◽  
Sabrina Marczak
Keyword(s):  
Information Exchange ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Geographically Distributed ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Collaboration Patterns ◽  
Agile Teams

Agile methods emphasize on team's collaboration and so does the requirements engineering process. But how do agile teams collaborate with their geographically distributed counter parts to accomplish requirements related activities? Although, proved to be flexible and dynamic it needs to conduct more empirical investigation to identify the collaboration patterns of distributed agile teams. Therefore, in this chapter collaboration patterns of geographically distributed agile teams are identified in terms of reported communication (defined as information exchange) among team members and their awareness (defined as knowledge about each other) of each other. A multiple case study method is used in this chapter to study the geographically distributed agile teams in four IT organizations. Though, some of the findings revealed several patterns are corroborating the previous results available in literature. However, some of the patterns identified in this chapter are specific to distributed agile teams. For instance, the chapter identifies that high awareness among agile teams leads to more communication. Implications for research and software industry are discussed and future research directions are also provided.

To SSIV, or not to SSIV: that is the question

2009 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Steven Cooper ◽  
Fiona Aoun
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Large Diameter ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Design Teams ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Oil And Gas Fields ◽  
The People ◽  
The World ◽  
Gas Fields

Sub Sea Isolation Valves (SSIVs) are normally considered for installation on the majority of facility builds. They first started coming to prominence in the world of safety following the Piper Alpha tragedy in 1988, where 167 people died and the platform was destroyed as a result of an explosion and fire. The aim of SSIVs is to protect the people on the platforms by limiting the amount of hydrocarbon available for a jet fire. Reducing the severity of a jet fire protects the integrity of manned living quarters in the event of an issue with the pipeline. This theory still holds true today but twenty plus years on SSIVs are not always included in new facility designs. Oil and gas fields developed in the future are more likely to be in more remote locations with large diameter pipelines tied back to onshore processing facilities. With well bays being replaced by subsea wells and flowlines it would be thought that the SSIV would now be man’s best friend; however, with the oil and gas industry showing a declining trend in fatalities around the world and with design improvements preventing and mitigating the occurrence of major accident events, many operators are questioning the added benefits of the SSIV. This paper debates the use of the SSIV and explores the issues over which many design teams deliberate. It considers the positives and the negatives associated with the SSIV and illustrates why an SSIV installation is a case-by-case prospect. A case study using a risk-based approach for installing the SSIV as part of a design concept is used to help illustrate this point.

scholarly journals Anti-crisis Transformation of Corporate Culture in Russian Companies During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 53-71
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Bogomolova ◽  
Yulia Kot ◽  
Ekaterina Nikiforova ◽  
Elena Petrenko
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Culture ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Team Members ◽  
The Public ◽  
Success Stories ◽  
Work Atmosphere ◽  
A Company ◽  
Depth Interviews

From April 2020 to August 2021 the Public Opinion Foundation conducted a study of the top management of small, medium and large businesses in a pandemic. We focused on “success stories” and on what characteristics of a company determine its survival. Despite the pandemic crisis these organizations were successfully able to adapt, they launched new products and processes, their teams stayed consolidated and in some cases even grew to accommodate new functions. One of the factors of a company’s success and its survival in a crisis is having a system of values shared by all team members, which is an integral part of corporate culture. The heads of companies point out: taking care of the collective means to make a very profitable investment in business development. During the crisis, corporate culture helped managers to preserve a tightly knit team around them, create a certain work atmosphere in the collective and inspire employees to continue growing. This article examines different levels of corporate culture, showing the role of each of them when it comes to the survival of a business in a pandemic crisis. The text also contains the results of a case study and content analysis of 70 in-depth interviews with company leaders, reflecting changes in corporate culture given an ongoing pandemic. Particular attention is paid to the transformation of the role of the business leader. In the final section we consider the specifics of culture for businesses of various sizes, and then summarize the results by outlining areas for future research.

Power and Communication: Solving Power Problems for Collaboration in Globally Distributed Engineering Design Teams

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth David ◽  
John R. Lloyd ◽  
Timothy J. Hinds
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Design Teams ◽  
Collaborative Activity ◽  
Collaborative Project ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Global Engineering ◽  
Globally Distributed ◽  
India And China

Because outsourcing and offshoring operations entail multi-site operations and inter-organizational alliances, they require effective boundary-spanning partnerships: inter-divisional, inter-organizational, and often, multi-country partnerships. This paper reports a multi-discipline research study—involving engineering, anthropology and telecommunications elements—on dispersed global engineering design teams. A framework involving power, culture, and collaborative activity is introduced. The focus here is on power and communications issues. Co-oriented, collaborative project activity is achieved when power issues are neutralized. When sub-team members perceive inequity, they frequently respond adversely. They may purposely create miscommunications among sub-teams, covertly subvert project goals, or otherwise act in ways that reduce project performance. Outsourcing of engineering design operations is a major challenge for the engineering profession. Outsourcing activity to India and China has increased; educational systems in these countries both improve in quality and augment the quantity of engineers produced. Traditional engineering skills are swiftly becoming a commodity in the global market.

Strategies for Managing Project Generated Knowledge

2011 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve de Kretser ◽  
Suzanne Wilkinson
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Knowledge Management System ◽  
Financial Health ◽  
Senior Managers ◽  
Construction Companies ◽  
The People ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Use Of Knowledge ◽  
A Company

If consulting construction companies made more effective use of project-generated knowledge, the financial health of the company would increase. This chapter discusses how wasted, lost, and ineffective use of knowledge leads to inefficiencies and reworking of past problems. The chapter focuses on the development of project-generated knowledge management systems and the benefits that construction companies can reap from such developments. Through a detailed case study, the chapter shows where the main problem areas occur in managing knowledge and proposes possible solutions to these problems. The chapter concludes that it is the people that use and produce the knowledge that are in the best position to help develop such a project-generated knowledge management system, with senior managers and company knowledge managers providing structure, facilitation, and support. With such collaboration and involvement of all staff in a company, failures of such systems will be reduced and the company as a whole will benefit.

scholarly journals Socioeconomic Impact of Development Projects on the Livelihood of Farmers: A Case Study of the Bui Dam Hydroelectric Project

2020 ◽  
pp. 34-44
Author(s):  
Amankwah Emmanuel ◽  
Awafo Edward ◽  
Atta-Darkwa Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Social Impact Assessment ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Hydroelectric Project ◽  
The People ◽  
Social Amenities ◽  
The Impact ◽  
New Location

The development of major social projects such as hydroelectric dams, roads and mining often result in the loss of properties and sometimes relocation of the affected people or communities. This paper examined the impact of the Bui Dam Hydroelectric project on the livelihood of the people affected, especially farmers in the Bono Region of Ghana. The paper also reviewed the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) report of the project in line with the Environmental Protection Agency requirement, examined the compensation and the living conditions of the farmers in the affected communities. Interviews and focus group discussions of farmers in four communities were conducted which was later followed by the administration of questionnaires to seventy-five (75) farmers. The data obtained from the questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages and Excel software for the development of charts. The review of the ESIA report of the Bui dam showed that an extensive ESIA was conducted with only few lapses outlined in the text. The interviews and the questionnaires  revealed  that  the  farmers  who  were  relocated  have  problems  with  land acquisition, soil fertility and irrigation facilities when they were moved to their new location. There were also concerns about inadequate payment of compensations and unfulfilled promises. However, about 97.3% of the respondents were comfortable at their new location because of the proximity to health services, access to good roads, nice buildings and provision of some basic social amenities such as light and water, as well as possible business and employment opportunities. The paper makes suggestions for improving compensations and resettlement schemes in Ghana.

scholarly journals Ethics in Procurement: A Case Study in a Logistic Company

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nor Rokiah Hanum Md. Haron ◽  
Iman Haddad Qaisara Dhia Mohd Mahzan
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Behavior ◽  
Cost Reduction ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Ethical Guidelines ◽  
Procurement Process ◽  
Ethical Behaviors ◽  
The People ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
A Company

This paper is part of a preliminary study for the awareness of ethical behaviors in procurement process specifically in a logistic company in Malaysia. Ethic is a critical behavior in a business transaction where most of the people misconduct the behavior unintentionally. The objective of this preliminary study is to get an insight view of a logistic case company, where it is found that ethics is being implemented in the daily procurement process. A structured interview question with various research of past problems concerning ethical behavior addresses the responsiveness of employees behaving ethically by following the ethical guidelines set by the company. This paper proposes that the company need to emphasize the importance of implementation of ethics and also create more awareness by having an official ethical guidelines of the company, despite the fact that the company is small and has a small number of employees. The company has gained many benefits such as cost reduction and maintaining a company-supplier relationship through the implementation of ethics in procurement.

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