Description
Manufacturing is the production of goods for use or sale using labor and machines, tools, chemical and biological processing, or formulation. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale.
A Case Studies on Multidisciplinary Technical Teams
Introduction
This research endeavour reports findings related to the exploration and analysis of the best practices of productive and highly technical teams in a development aerospace community. The research is part of a doctoral project divided into two stages. The first stage critically reviewed the literature and focused on a case study of a specific, highly productive development team. Subsequently, the stage one findings were expanded to include a comparison to a development team of similar makeup, but one considered not as successful in productivity or performance. All research was conducted within the same relatively small aerospace company.
Methodology
The overall schedule and methodology is found in the following figure. As illustrated, the research project first examined the pertinent literature relating to this study, then moved onto the successful team's strategy and implementation; followed by the less successful team's strategy and implementation. This was followed by the comparative analysis of the two teams, followed by the write-up of the findings. The methodology included indepth interviews, social network analysis with UCInet, and statistical analysis. Team A was designated the 'successful team', while Team B was designated the 'not-as-successful' team.
Phase 1
LiIeralLre Review Team A Strategy Team A Implementalion Team B Strategy Teams Implementation Team A and B Comparison and Analysis Report Wfile-up
The population of both teams was made up of all persons who charged to the contract. This has made it possible to define the population, using a demographic approach. In a demographic approach, the criteria are fulfilled for the team members, but in some cases, there was not direct interaction with team members. In this case, the actor will be present in the social network map, but not encounter any ties to the team or population. For the MESSENGER team, the key core team has been identified based on team formation, commitment, and role on the team. The roles include the Lead Project Engineer, Systems Engineer, Mechanical Engineer, Design Engineer, and Manufacturing Engineer. Though there were over two hundred and fifty different personnel that supported the overall team, the above mentioned roles were critical to the design and manufacturing phase of the program. There were also additional quantitative supports for these functions, as they charged more hours over the lifecycle of the program than any other members of the team.
Implications to Management
Some leading literature that focuses on the practical management implications to development aerospace teams is a study conducted at NASA Langley. This study focused on four key areas, which include: clarity of mission, involvement of key experts, multidisciplinary team experience, and effectiveness of team processes. The primary research implications in light of the existing NASA Langley study is discussed in detail in the following section.
Phase 2
Effectiveness of team processes
Team effectiveness is found through long term impacts, exceeding expectations, communication, productivity, and efficiency; it occurs when teams are meeting milestones, deadlines, and building high quality products. Information can be communicated in many ways (meeting, phone, e-mail, etc). Each mode of communication has advantages and disadvantages that
Wmter 2009
Figure V. Overall Methodology Process
Manager
EXPERT ADVICE
GESTION
CANADIANINSTITUTEOFMANAGEMENT/INSTITUTCANADIENOf
19
should be understood and exploited to the benefit of the function, as well as the procurement function, have team and its members. Different people communicate schedule considerations, as well as the interface of the differently and the team processes should take this into part. This would affect the design engineer, account. The monitoring of the quality of information being communicated and avoiding the trap of equating quality with quantity and/or frequency is a key for the success and stability of the project group. The NASA Langley research additionally focused on the systems thinking concept. In aerospace communities, it is common to have different suppliers managing key components, and one of the critical aspects to managing these programs is bringing these components together to a onesystem level. Capabilities are considered core if they differentiate a company strategically. Thus, at any given point in a corporation's history, core capabilities are evolving, and corporate survival depends upon successfully managing that evolution. Conflicts between the need for innovation and retention of important capabilities are based on development projects that reveal friction between technology strategy and current corporate practices; they also show potential new strategic direction. For example, the decision needs to be made to the trade-off between leading edge design innovation (which is costly and will risk schedule) and utilizing off the shelf proven technology. This is at the discretion of the team member to which the task is assigned. Often, the expertise is spanned throughout several disciplines, making the decision held within the team and by several team members. This may create conflict. For example, a design of a part could affect the design engineering
Winter 2009
manufacturing engineer, systems engineer, procurement, as well as scheduling and fiscal. These considerations are tradeoffs between these functions and at times the decision of how to proceed is at conflict between these team members. Moreover, the decision can become a marketing function, as the company will attempt to market itself for future projects based on the decisions of where key innovation should take place. This puts the decisions of the team and project, outside the team as a whole. This further reveals the need and criticality of the social dimensions of the technical team, as well as outsiders to the team.
References
Waszak, Martin R., Barthélémy, Jean-Francois, Jones, Kenneth M., Silicox, Richard J., and Silva, Walter A, and Nowaczyk, Ronald H. 'Modeling and Analysis of Multidiscipline Research Teams at Nasa Langley Research Center: A Systems Thinking Approach'. Paper presented at the 7th AIAA Symposium, Sept 1998.
doc_977687989.docx
Manufacturing is the production of goods for use or sale using labor and machines, tools, chemical and biological processing, or formulation. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale.
A Case Studies on Multidisciplinary Technical Teams
Introduction
This research endeavour reports findings related to the exploration and analysis of the best practices of productive and highly technical teams in a development aerospace community. The research is part of a doctoral project divided into two stages. The first stage critically reviewed the literature and focused on a case study of a specific, highly productive development team. Subsequently, the stage one findings were expanded to include a comparison to a development team of similar makeup, but one considered not as successful in productivity or performance. All research was conducted within the same relatively small aerospace company.
Methodology
The overall schedule and methodology is found in the following figure. As illustrated, the research project first examined the pertinent literature relating to this study, then moved onto the successful team's strategy and implementation; followed by the less successful team's strategy and implementation. This was followed by the comparative analysis of the two teams, followed by the write-up of the findings. The methodology included indepth interviews, social network analysis with UCInet, and statistical analysis. Team A was designated the 'successful team', while Team B was designated the 'not-as-successful' team.
Phase 1
LiIeralLre Review Team A Strategy Team A Implementalion Team B Strategy Teams Implementation Team A and B Comparison and Analysis Report Wfile-up
The population of both teams was made up of all persons who charged to the contract. This has made it possible to define the population, using a demographic approach. In a demographic approach, the criteria are fulfilled for the team members, but in some cases, there was not direct interaction with team members. In this case, the actor will be present in the social network map, but not encounter any ties to the team or population. For the MESSENGER team, the key core team has been identified based on team formation, commitment, and role on the team. The roles include the Lead Project Engineer, Systems Engineer, Mechanical Engineer, Design Engineer, and Manufacturing Engineer. Though there were over two hundred and fifty different personnel that supported the overall team, the above mentioned roles were critical to the design and manufacturing phase of the program. There were also additional quantitative supports for these functions, as they charged more hours over the lifecycle of the program than any other members of the team.
Implications to Management
Some leading literature that focuses on the practical management implications to development aerospace teams is a study conducted at NASA Langley. This study focused on four key areas, which include: clarity of mission, involvement of key experts, multidisciplinary team experience, and effectiveness of team processes. The primary research implications in light of the existing NASA Langley study is discussed in detail in the following section.
Phase 2
Effectiveness of team processes
Team effectiveness is found through long term impacts, exceeding expectations, communication, productivity, and efficiency; it occurs when teams are meeting milestones, deadlines, and building high quality products. Information can be communicated in many ways (meeting, phone, e-mail, etc). Each mode of communication has advantages and disadvantages that
Wmter 2009
Figure V. Overall Methodology Process
Manager
EXPERT ADVICE
GESTION
CANADIANINSTITUTEOFMANAGEMENT/INSTITUTCANADIENOf
19
should be understood and exploited to the benefit of the function, as well as the procurement function, have team and its members. Different people communicate schedule considerations, as well as the interface of the differently and the team processes should take this into part. This would affect the design engineer, account. The monitoring of the quality of information being communicated and avoiding the trap of equating quality with quantity and/or frequency is a key for the success and stability of the project group. The NASA Langley research additionally focused on the systems thinking concept. In aerospace communities, it is common to have different suppliers managing key components, and one of the critical aspects to managing these programs is bringing these components together to a onesystem level. Capabilities are considered core if they differentiate a company strategically. Thus, at any given point in a corporation's history, core capabilities are evolving, and corporate survival depends upon successfully managing that evolution. Conflicts between the need for innovation and retention of important capabilities are based on development projects that reveal friction between technology strategy and current corporate practices; they also show potential new strategic direction. For example, the decision needs to be made to the trade-off between leading edge design innovation (which is costly and will risk schedule) and utilizing off the shelf proven technology. This is at the discretion of the team member to which the task is assigned. Often, the expertise is spanned throughout several disciplines, making the decision held within the team and by several team members. This may create conflict. For example, a design of a part could affect the design engineering
Winter 2009
manufacturing engineer, systems engineer, procurement, as well as scheduling and fiscal. These considerations are tradeoffs between these functions and at times the decision of how to proceed is at conflict between these team members. Moreover, the decision can become a marketing function, as the company will attempt to market itself for future projects based on the decisions of where key innovation should take place. This puts the decisions of the team and project, outside the team as a whole. This further reveals the need and criticality of the social dimensions of the technical team, as well as outsiders to the team.
References
Waszak, Martin R., Barthélémy, Jean-Francois, Jones, Kenneth M., Silicox, Richard J., and Silva, Walter A, and Nowaczyk, Ronald H. 'Modeling and Analysis of Multidiscipline Research Teams at Nasa Langley Research Center: A Systems Thinking Approach'. Paper presented at the 7th AIAA Symposium, Sept 1998.
doc_977687989.docx