Characteristics of self-managing teams in rapid product development projects

Abstract Product development organisations are facing an increasing amount of rapid, small-scale development projects to fulfil market and customer needs. Self-managing teams have been proposed as effective means in creating new radical innovation, but their use has not been widely studied in smaller and faster product development projects, which are increasing in numbers. A multiple-case study was conducted to analyse seven business-to-business companies’ product development models and the use of self-management in their rapid product development teams. The findings indicate that the companies use very similar characteristics of self-management to support rapid product development projects, but all characteristics of self-management do not support rapid product development teams. Notable success factors for rapid product development were dedicating competent developers for rapid projects, co-locating the development team, effective face-to-face communication and implementing a defined, but flexible workflow for rapid product development

The 1st Nordic Innovation Research Conference—Finnkampen

Abstract The 1st Nordic Innovation Research PhD Conference, "Finnkampen", held in December 2006 in Oulu, Finland, focuses on a wide field from Innovation Management, Entrepreneurship to the whole field of Industrial Engineering and Management representing the specific areas of interest: regional innovation systems; technology strategy thinking and planning; product concept development, product visions, product development and process development, and product launch; evaluation and assessment of technologies; and academic entrepreneurship as well as human aspects of entrepreneurship and innovation. This book is a selection of papers written by the participating PhD students from the universities of Oulu, Vaasa and Luleå. 16 papers, presented in this book, provide best practices and novel concepts for managing innovation, improving creativity and quality, entrepreneurship, and developing regional innovation systems. The 1st Nordic Innovation Research Conference is a start for the Nordic research community's continuing development in the field on Innovation. Together the Nordic universities will build an annual Innovation Reseach Forum. In 2007, the Forum will be held in Luleå, Sweden

Industrial operation model for the construction industry

Abstract For decades, the construction industry has been searching for avenues to improve productivity. One potential direction for improvement is industrialisation, which involves repetitive and modular products and standardised processes to achieve economies of scale. This article describes an industrial operation model (IOM) based on the literature and uses empirical studies to find the emerging elements of the IOM in the construction industry. We employed qualitative and inductive approaches to build the general IOM framework. We determined the main challenges for the IOM through semi-structured interviews with 11 companies. The current state of the analysed IOM elements was perceived as inconstant and generally weak. In any case, we were able to describe several challenges in the main areas of the IOM. In this study, six preconditions for the IOM were defined as critical: defined target markets and products, effective product portfolio management, product and process data availability, efficient operative business processes, systematic continuous improvement, and governance and owners of the main IOM elements. The IOM framework and the proposed preconditions can be used as bases for future productivity development in the construction industry

Identity formation and maintenance in a large hospital construction project

Abstract Earlier research has demonstrated that in a project organization, project identity is a central leadership vehicle that offers a useful means for examining and developing shared interests and goals among project participants. However, little research has focused on project identity formation and identity maintenance. We focused on the case of a large hospital construction project and used a qualitative research method to create propositions describing the essential identity formation activities that the program management office (PMO), the project director, and together with the project management team need to intentionally undertake in the early phases of a hospital construction project and corresponding identity maintenance during the project implementation period. The findings indicate that identity creation and formation is initiated from the first meetings at the project front end and naturally evolves, but significant intentional actions need to be organized and controlled at the front end. Identity maintenance as a deliberate managerial action should take place during project implementation to keep identity alive as a positive resource, not resulting in the identity fading away to something else

The 3rd Nordic Innovation Research Conference - NIR 2008—IEM Arctic Workshop

Abstract The 3rd Nordic Innovation Research PhD Conference, IEM Arctic Workshop, held in December 2008 in Oulu, Finland, focuses on different aspects on Management of Innovation. The NIR 2008 is devoted to support doctoral students in their actual research work. This book is a selection of papers written by the participating PhD students from the universities of Oulu, Lappeenranta, Luleå, and also long distance co-operators from Kasetsart University, Thailand. 13 papers, presented in this book, provide views for current research. These papers are considering areas such open innovation, knowledge management, corporate entrepreneurship, strategic management, and concepts to manage product development

Production capability creation (PCC) for collaborative construction projects:a qualitative study from Finland

Abstract The construction industry has been suffering from modest productivity development in recent decades. To address the recognized problems, collaborative delivery methods are replacing traditional project delivery models, especially in large and complex projects. The aim of this research is to describe the production capability creation (PCC) process as a solution for planning the production phase. The PCC process should be implemented parallel to the design phase and owned by the production. A qualitative and inductive approach, based primarily on case company interviews, is applied to identify the twelve most important challenges for preplanning in the design phase from a group of different types of stakeholders in construction projects. Based on these challenges, the main areas of PCC are structured, solving the depicted production challenges, enabling a wasteless and cost-efficient production phase to avoid unnecessary delays and problems. Parallel implementation of PCC and design processes of the building naturally also improve the result of the design itself. With PCC, contractors can recognize the need for improvement in their processes but, more importantly, can directly contribute to the design of the building. Described PCC process solves major challenges emerging from the case company interviews. Earlier literature on capability creation is scarce, and for the construction industry it is even more narrow. The PCC process presented in this research enables significant improvement in efficiency and effectiveness, and the elimination of waste in the construction industry

Development levels of stakeholder relationships in collaborative projects:challenges and preconditions

Abstract Purpose: This article aims to address the confusion related to the meanings of interorganisational cooperation, control, coordination and collaboration in collaborative projects by developing a conceptual framework. From this, the authors aim to describe the links among these concepts in terms of development levels of stakeholder relationships. In addition, the authors aim to identify challenges and preconditions in relation to developing relationships at different levels. Design/methodology/approach: The authors have adopted the directed approach of qualitative content analysis method to validate and extend the conceptual framework of this study. The context of this study is a large hospital construction project located in northern Finland. Findings: The findings of this study suggest that collaboration is a multilevel process of active engagement of multiple stakeholders. These stakeholders must have a high degree of shared understanding in terms of cooperation, control and coordination to achieve the mutually desired outcomes. This study also identifies the challenges that project stakeholders could face in developing collaborative relationships and propose preconditions for the same. Practical implications: This study provides a better understanding for project managers to manage interorganisational collaborative construction projects successfully. The outcome of this research would be beneficial to project management team to deliver dispute-free construction projects. Originality/value: Existing practical research on the development of relationships at different levels in collaborative construction projects is limited. This study offers a framework for the same which is validated in a real-life project

Supporting lean software enterprises with agile development methods

Abstract Lean principles have been seen as a potential answer to the current issues of faster development cycles and more frequent releases, as software businesses are changing towards more service-oriented offerings and cloud-based business structures. Agile software development methods have played an important role in resolving the same issues at development level. This article creates a framework for lean software enterprise theory by linking lean theory, lean software development, and agile software development methods. The findings are tested through an empirical study conducted in two significant software engineering organizations. This article presents a conceptual lean software development system that clearly combines lean and agile. The important role of people and culture is also emphasized. Agile software development methods are characterized as the tools of lean software development and while lean software development is seen as a change beyond agile, agile approach is required for competitive advantage

The contemporaneous use of building information modeling and relational project delivery arrangements

Abstract The initiatives of building information modelling (BIM) and relational project delivery arrangements (RPDA) have traditionally been quite different, although both aim to enhance customer value. BIM was developed to serve as an information center and collaboration and simulation model, whereas RPDAs were developed to foster a search for a mutual and single project objective through early stakeholder involvement and integration. However, recent experiences have indicated some reasons for suspecting that BIM and RPDA, surprisingly, have a lot in common. This paper studies the contemporaneous use of BIM and RPDA and aims at finding out the main benefits when utilized simultaneously