Engineering Innovative Practice in Managing Design Projects

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 13-23
Author(s):  
Fernando Abreu Gonçalves ◽  
José Figueiredo
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Value Management ◽  
Change Processes ◽  
Earned Value ◽  
Earned Value Management ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
Scope Management ◽  
Perturbation Index

Most references to innovation relate to the development of new products. This paper does not address innovation in these terms, but as changes in practices an engineer creatively adopts during engineering design projects. The authors adopt Actor-Network Theory as a way to understand these change processes (translations). The authors design a perturbation index inspired in Earned Value management to measure translation effort having in mind the management of scope. The paper then assesses changes of regime in resource allocation of tasks and concludes some changes that can lead to innovative results. That means a wider view about scope, and scope management is gained, being able to observe and change good practices, something crucial in engineering design projects where requirements and goals drift.

Disturbing Practices in Engineering Design Projects

2014 ◽  
pp. 238-251
Author(s):  
Fernando Abreu Gonçalves ◽  
José Figueiredo
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
New Products ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Value Management ◽  
Earned Value ◽  
Earned Value Management ◽  
Good Practices ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
Scope Management ◽  
Perturbation Index

Most references to innovation relate to the development of new products. In this chapter, the authors do not address innovation in these terms; instead, they address them as changes in practices an engineer creatively adopts during engineering design projects. They adopt Actor-Network Theory as a way to understand these change processes (translations). The authors design a perturbation index inspired in Earned Value management to measure translation effort, having in mind the management of scope. Then they assess changes of regime in resource allocation of tasks and conclude some changes can lead to innovative results. That means we gain a wider view about scope, and scope management, being able to observe and change good practices, something crucial in engineering design projects where requirements and goals drift.

Innovating Practices in Managing Engineering Design Projects

2014 ◽  
pp. 81-95
Author(s):  
Fernando Abreu Gonçalves ◽  
José Figueiredo
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Change Processes ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
Scope Management ◽  
Engineering Practices ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Engineering Projects ◽  
Innovation Processes ◽  
Perturbation Index

We can address innovation from different perspectives. In engineering practices we can look to changes resulting from attempts to discover ways of overcoming difficulties. How can we manage these innovative practices in engineering design projects? Furthering our perspective we use an actor-network way to look at change processes as chains of translations between heterogeneous actors that are enrolled in changes and where patterns of action are inscribed in durable manners. In an actor-network, the chains of inscriptions are stronger if the number of aligned actors is bigger, and this is the case of engineering projects where the cost of change builds up with time. Through the use of some stylized situations, the authors construct a Perturbation Index to obtain numeric values to assess the dynamics of innovations in engineering practices. The aim is that the application of this index to real situations could lead to meaningful descriptions of such innovation processes. Managing innovation in engineering design projects has to do with the management of project scope. The proposal extends scope management from its definition and planning phases through the control of changes along the execution.

Innovating Practices in Managing Engineering Design Projects

2016 ◽  
pp. 1120-1135
Author(s):  
Fernando Abreu Gonçalves ◽  
José Figueiredo
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Change Processes ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
Scope Management ◽  
Engineering Practices ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Engineering Projects ◽  
Innovation Processes ◽  
Perturbation Index

We can address innovation from different perspectives. In engineering practices we can look to changes resulting from attempts to discover ways of overcoming difficulties. How can we manage these innovative practices in engineering design projects? Furthering our perspective we use an actor-network way to look at change processes as chains of translations between heterogeneous actors that are enrolled in changes and where patterns of action are inscribed in durable manners. In an actor-network, the chains of inscriptions are stronger if the number of aligned actors is bigger, and this is the case of engineering projects where the cost of change builds up with time. Through the use of some stylized situations, the authors construct a Perturbation Index to obtain numeric values to assess the dynamics of innovations in engineering practices. The aim is that the application of this index to real situations could lead to meaningful descriptions of such innovation processes. Managing innovation in engineering design projects has to do with the management of project scope. The proposal extends scope management from its definition and planning phases through the control of changes along the execution.

How to Recognize an Immutable Mobile When You Find One

2012 ◽  
pp. 92-106
Author(s):  
Fernando Abreu Gonçalves ◽  
José Figueiredo
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Engineering Design ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Project Design ◽  
Engineering Design Process ◽  
Constructive Process ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
Actor Networks

Research involved with Actor-Network Theory (ANT) application in engineering domains often crosses through its fundamentals. In fact, exploring trends that envisage ANT as a paradigm that can prove valid in the engineering design field, researchers sometimes enrol in discussions that drive them to its roots. Obligatory Passage Points (OPP) and Immutable Mobiles (IM) are two of the fundamental concepts that need to be revisited. These concepts are critical to understanding innovation in Actor-Networks, especially for the part of IMs. In the pursuit of that understanding, the authors opt to entangle ANT and engineering design and explore a framework based on Programs of Action where actors are represented as taxonomies of competences. These actors are hybrids but, when human, they are mainly engineers engaged in the scope planning and resource management in engineering design projects or processes. This article exercises and develops a constructive process towards a methodology to approach innovation in engineering design. This research is useful for the first stages of the project design process and, in a broader way, to the full cycle of the engineering design process.

How to Recognize an Immutable Mobile When You Find One

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Abreu Gonçalves ◽  
José Figueiredo
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Engineering Design ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Project Design ◽  
Engineering Design Process ◽  
Constructive Process ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
Actor Networks

Research involved with Actor-Network Theory (ANT) application in engineering domains often crosses through its fundamentals. In fact, exploring trends that envisage ANT as a paradigm that can prove valid in the engineering design field, researchers sometimes enrol in discussions that drive them to its roots. Obligatory Passage Points (OPP) and Immutable Mobiles (IM) are two of the fundamental concepts that need to be revisited. These concepts are critical to understanding innovation in Actor-Networks, especially for the part of IMs. In the pursuit of that understanding, the authors opt to entangle ANT and engineering design and explore a framework based on Programs of Action where actors are represented as taxonomies of competences. These actors are hybrids but, when human, they are mainly engineers engaged in the scope planning and resource management in engineering design projects or processes. This article exercises and develops a constructive process towards a methodology to approach innovation in engineering design. This research is useful for the first stages of the project design process and, in a broader way, to the full cycle of the engineering design process.

Directed earned value management based on ordered fuzzy numbers

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Seyed Taha Hossein Mortaji ◽  
Siamak Noori ◽  
Morteza Bagherpour
Keyword(s):  
Fuzzy Numbers ◽  
Lower Cost ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Value Management ◽  
Monitoring And Control ◽  
Earned Value ◽  
Earned Value Management ◽  
Project Monitoring ◽  
And Control

Earned value management is well-known as the most efficient method of project monitoring and control providing relatively reliable information about the project performance. However, this method requires accurate estimates of the progress of project activities, which are always associated with uncertainties that, if ignored or not addressed well, lead to incorrect results. To address this issue, the application of multi-valued logic, in particular fuzzy logic, in earned value management has recently attracted a lot of attention both in practice and research. This paper introduces directed earned value management (DEVM) in which ordered fuzzy numbers are used to express the so-called uncertainties as well as to capture more information about the trend of the project progress. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, several numerical examples and a case study are presented. The results reveal that compared to the existing methods, DEVM has a lower computational complexity. Also, it doesn’t suffer from the overestimation effect and as a result, it has a higher ability to express project-specific dynamics. In sum, the proposed method allows project managers to make informed decisions that lead to taking preventive and corrective actions promptly and at a lower cost.

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