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1、Evaluating Information Transfer in Product DevelopmentEVALUATINGINFORMATIONTRANSFERINPRODUCTDEVELOPMENTbyMARKDAMIANMORELLIBachelorofMechanicalEngineeringGeorgiaInstituteofTechnology(1987)SubmittedtotheSloanSchoolofManagementinPartialFulfillmentoftheRequirementsoftheDegreeofMasterofScienceinManagemen
2、tattheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnologyJune1993MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology(1993)ALLRIGHTSRESERVEDAkA&SignatureofAuthor_MITSloanSchoolofManagementMay21,1993CertifiedbyDE.teven.pplnger.,.s.o.c,ia,te'Professor.esisSupervisorq,tJ:AcceptedbyJeffreyA.BarksAssociateDean,Master'sandBac
3、helor'sProgranlsDeweyMASSACHusmsNSTITUTE(I'JUM231993LlBRAHIEvaluatingInformationTransferinProductDevelopmentbyMARKDAMIANMORELLISubmittedtotheAlfredP.SloanSchoolofManagementonMay21,1993,inpartialfulfillmentoftherequirementsoftheDegreeofMasterofScienceinManagementABSTRACfInanattempttobuildbe
4、tterproductsfaster,companieshaveemployedsimultaneousengineering,whichrequirestheaggressiveoverlappingofproductdevelopmenttasks.Indoingso,thecomplexityofproductdevelopmentprojectshasbeendramaticallyincreased,alongwiththerisksoffailure.Sinceproductdevelopmentprojectsrepresentastreamofinformationthatre
5、sultsinneworrevisedproducts.nloreefficientmethodstoenhancethiscomplexflowofinformationwillimprovethedevelopmentprocess.Thisthesisexploresthetransferofinformationwithinproductdevelopmentteamswiththeultimategoalofimprovingtheprocessofproductintroduction.Manybarrierstocommunicationexistwithinthedevelop
6、mentprocess,whetherorganizational,structural,orcultural.Thisworkservesasaparadigmforpredictingandrecordingactualflowsofinformationinproductdevelopmentwithaviewtowardremovingthosebarriers.Inordertomapcriticalinformationflows,weappliedanalyticaltoolsunderdevelopmentatMITtoaproductdevelopmentprojectatA
7、MP,Inc.,whichservesasacasestudyforthisthesis.Thedesignstructurematrix(DSM)wasappliedinordertopredictcriticalinformationflows.Actualcommunicationwasthendocumentedastheprojectprogressed.AGraphicNetworkInterpreter(AGNI)facilitatedouranalysisbyrevealingrelevantpatternsofcommunication.Finally,wedeveloped
8、frameworksforcomparingpredictedandactualflowsofinformation.Wecandrawconclusionsfromthecomparisonofactualandpredictedpatterns,frequency,anddirectionalityofinformationflow.TheDSMpredictednearlyone-halfofallcommunicationtakingplace,andnearlyallhighfrequencycommunication.Oftheunpredictedcommunication,tw
9、enty-threepercentconsistsofengineeringcommunicationthatshouldhavebeenincludedintheDSMmodel.Theremainingseventy-sevenpercentisunpredictedinformalcommunication,andcommunicationbymanagersthatisimportantbutdoesnotrequirerepresentationintheDSM.Wealsofoundthattwo-wayinformationflowoccursinmostcommunicatio
10、ninstances,evenifone-wayispredicted.Preliminaryresultssuggestthatgeographicalbarriersinproductdevelopmentareovercomewhennecessary,andinsomecasescommunicationismorefrequentthanpredicted.ThesisSupervisor:StevenD.EppingerTitle:AssociateProfessorofManagement2ACKNOWLEDGMENTSIwouldliketothankthepeoplethat
11、workedcloselywithmeonthisproject.particularlyProfessorStevenEppingerforhisexperttechnicalandeditorialcontributions.IthankProfessorTomAllenforhisassistanceinsettingupthisprojectandservingasthethesisreader.IntheDesignManagementGroupIwouldliketothankKentMcCord,VishKrishnanandChrisHuberfortheirsupportan
12、dthoughtfulcontributions.VargheseGeorge,theAGNIarchitect,wasofconsiderablehelpinlearningAGNIandproposingrelevantframeworksandanalyses.Thecompanysponsorwhohostedtheprojectmadethisthesispossible.IthankTomDavisforhisinsightandcontributionstothiswork,aswellasIosifKorsunskyfortakingtimetomakethisdatawort
13、hwhile.MichaelLeonzodeservesspecialrecognitionforhisdiligenceindatacollectionwhichensuredaccurateinformation.Finally,IthankLauraGoodforherpersonalsupportandassistanceinediting.3PREFACEThisthesishasbeenwrittenwithseveraltypesofreadersinmind.Researchersextendingthismethodologytootherprojectsshouldrefe
14、rtoMethodologywithinsectionII,aswellasallofsectionsIII,IV,andV.RecommendationsforfutureinitiativesareoutlinedinsectionVI.AppendicesBandCincludethequestionnaireandpamphletusedindatacollection.AppendixDpresentsactualcommunicationdatatakenfromteammembersastheprojectprogressed.Thoseinterestedintheapplic
15、ationoftheDSMshouldreviewDSMDataCollectionwithinsectionIV.DSManalysisisfoundinsectionIVaswell,whileresultsandrecommendationsforapplicationstosmallerdevelopmentprojectsisinsectionV.SuggestedimprovementsfortheDSMandfutureinitiativesareoutlinedinsectionVI.TheapplicationofAGNItoconductnetworkanalysisist
16、reatedinsectionsIVandV.ImprovementsforAGNIarepresentedinConclusions,sectionVI.Thoseinterestedinproductdevelopment,includingthecompanysponsor,shouldrefertotheprojectoverviewinsectionIIandspecificrecommendationsinAppendixA.4EVALUATINGINFORMATIONTRANSFERINPRODUCTDEVELOPMENTTABLEOFCONTENTSPAGEABSTRACT2ACKNOWLEDGMENTS3PREFACE4TABLEOFCONTENTS5LISTOFFIGURES7IINTRODUCTIONgIIPROJECTDESCRIP'fION14Methodology14OverviewofMICTOR
