| 1. |
- Berglund, Anders, 1974-
(författare)
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Two facets of Innovation in Engineering Education : The interplay of Student Learning and Curricula Design
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis covers two main perspectives ofinnovation; first, innovation is regarded as an outcome-related mechanism wherelearning is expressed through artefact presentations at the end of adevelopment process; second, innovation comprises a change mechanism in theprocess of student learning, influencing educators to reconsider new methods andpractices. Building on qualitative data from engineering design courses, theaim has been to explore how learning elements in engineering educationinfluence students during early-phase innovation. By implementing andpracticing learning elements, early-phase innovation could strengthen both currentand future engineering curricula, courses, and programmes.This thesis put attention to authentic experiences in which learning elementsis acted upon by students and targeted, defined, and refined by educators.Introducing learning elements need educators to manifest learning efforts moreexplicitly to match students’ capability to interpret new knowledge. Adoptinglearning elements that challenge existing paths of action are characterized by diversity, proactivity, opennessand motivation. For students to excel in the exploration of early-phaseinnovation, it is important to identify when, how and to what extent leaningelements can be reinforced. Thestrengthened understanding by students is mirrored in improved ability to takeaction and apply relevant knowledge in distinct learning situations. Theopportunity to influence student learning provides the design and redesign of curricula,courses and programmes as a prime feature to leaning elements relevant to early-phaseinnovation. To successfully pursue innovation in engineering education abalance is necessary between responsible actors integrating learning elementsand by those determined to learn.
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| 2. |
- Malvius, Diana, 1974-
(författare)
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Integrated information management in complex product development
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Where do companies begin their efforts when trying to improve information management in product development? In large companies involving many people, multiple processes and highly technological products several factors have an impact on efficiency. Interdisciplinary integration and structured information are two overall proposed key factors that have been identified as important to obtain efficient information management. Measurement of satisfaction level among information systems users is proposed as an angle of approach to identify key improvement areas from an operative perspective that are argued to be strategic for management to address. However, the need for adjustments to contextual prerequisites and a changing environment makes evaluation necessary prior to measurement. An evaluation framework is proposed to identify metrics that are tailored and kept in line with business and development strategies to ensure their relevancy. This research has aimed at taking a holistic approach to information management in complex product development. The research focus has been on the integration between engineering disciplines where software and electrical R&D departments at automotive companies have been the main source of the analysis material. Integrated information management entails support for activities within the engineering domain. Several strategies are discussed to manage trade-offs in organizations in order to succeed with integrated information management. A needs-based balance is one important approach proposed to resolve changing and conflicting needs. Furthermore, it is argued that operative and strategic goals should be allowed to co-exist. Providing the right infrastructure to support designers in their everyday work does not necessarily mean additional functionality to existing information systems or automated work activities by improved document templates. Rather, it is suggested that a shift in focus (from addressing detailed requirements management to reflecting on interrelationships between information objects and system inter-dependencies) would be a strong mechanism to succeed with information management. The transition into model-based development is argued to be a much needed change for organizations to obtain integrated information management, since a model-based approach is considered an important basis for structured information. Anticipated benefits with integrated information management are increased information availability, reduced information overflow, and enhanced communication and understanding of critical system dependencies
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| 3. |
- Zackrisson, Mats
(författare)
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Product orientation of environmental work - barriers & incentives
- 2009
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Abstract The research behind this licentiate is spread out over a decade of intensive development of environmental work in industry. A 1998 survey of Swedish companies with newly installed environmental management systems (EMS) concluded that such systems need more product-orientation. Data collected by companies as part of the process of creating their EMS between 1996-2001 offered further evidence that it is environmentally justified to seek improvements in the materials selection, use and disposal phases of products, i.e., to make the environmental improvement work more product-orientated. In a EU-funded project carried out between 2004-2006 it was demonstrated that developing an environmental product declaration could be a cost-effective product-oriented environmental action even for smaller companies. This licentiate thesis relates to methods for companies to orientate their environmental work on their products. In particular, it examines experience and provides insights on the possibilities for companies, including small ones, to use life cycle assessment in product development in order to design products with an environmental performance well above legal compliance. It is difficult to give general recommendations to companies about their environmental work because each company has its own unique business idea, customers, work culture, stakeholders etc. Nevertheless, the main findings of the licentiate thesis can be summed up in the following recommendations for, say, a small company in Europe without much previous experience of environmental work: § Focus your environmental work on your products because you will accomplish more environmentally and the chance of profiting economically will motivate your personnel; § Consider doing a life cycle assessment, LCA, on a strategically chosen product in order to learn more about your products and how to improve their environmental performance; § Do not expect to find a general market demand for green products; start a dialogue with your best customers in order to create the demand; § Engage an LCA specialist to do the LCA and work together with your personnel to interpret the results and generate improvement ideas; § If your customers demand that you install an environmental management system, ask them if they would not prefer to receive an environmental product declaration on the particular product they are interested in, and a chance to discuss how its environmental performance can be improved.
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| 4. |
- Adamsson, Niklas, 1977-
(författare)
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Interdisciplinary integration in complex product development : managerial implications of embedding software in manufactured goods
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Incorporating electronics and software systems into manufactured goods is becoming very common in manufacturing companies. New technical functions, increased flexibility, and compensation for mechanical design weaknesses are some key drivers of this technological change in our everyday products. The automotive industry exemplifies this trend, since approximately 80–90% of new functions in cars are based on electronics and software, and it is expected that at least a third of the total cost of a car will eventually be accounted for by electronics and software. However, one of the main downsides of this technological trend is the increasing number of quality issues related to these new technologies, something usually claimed to be a result of the increased product development complexity. Previous research into product development management has mainly concentrated on either physical products or software systems, but not concurrently on both. Additionally, much of the research has concentrated on issues of integrating marketing, R&D, and manufacturing in these companies, and has treated the engineering disciplines in R&D as a homogenous group. Motivated by this change in technology content and the lack of research into complex product development and especially into integration between engineering disciplines, the present work investigates how to increase operational performance in multidisciplinary engineering organizations. This work has especially focused on interdisciplinary integration and the feasibility of various so-called integration mechanisms, such as building common physical facilities, job rotation programs, the implementation and use of information and communications technology, and computer-aided engineering tools. Both qualitative and quantitative research has been performed, involving 11 different companies and over 300 respondents. Supported by the present findings, it is demonstrated that interdisciplinary integration is a crucial factor to consider, and it is concluded that certain integration mechanisms stand out as more important than others. Organizational structure, work procedures and methods, training, social systems, and computer-aided engineering were the five types of mechanisms that displayed the greatest potential for improvement. It is further concluded that the ability to successfully match the body of practices to current products is essential, since there is a high risk of current practices becoming out-dated with respect to the technology content. Furthermore, inadequate identification of or managerial ability to establish the currently most important interfaces complicate the choice of trade-offs between various technologies that are found to be essential to cope with the inherent dynamic complexity. The organizational powerbase is often re-positioned in the studied organizations, and the loss of decisive power can result in a demoralizing ignorance of newly established disciplines and their design practices. Additionally, rigid structures and counterproductive traditions can reduce the potential gains accruing from new boundary-spanning innovations, so organizational responsibilities and mandates must be declared unambiguously, in many cases differently from how they have been in the past. Based on these conclusions, it is suggested that managers in organizations like those studied must be able to do the following: cultivate software knowledge in all parts and levels of the product development organization; reassess their recruitment strategies; organize for interdisciplinary collaboration; articulate and communicate the technology fusion strategy to all disciplines; and realize and disseminate the fact that product launches do not only concern manufacturability.
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| 5. |
- Gutiérrez, Ernesto
(författare)
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Decision making in innovation : understanding selection and prioritizaiton of development projects
- 2008
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis has its origin in empirical evidence. Some Swedish companies claimed that despite having plenty of proposals for developing new products, they experienced problems when choosing from all those alternatives. Their problem was how to select among new ideas the ones for being developed and the ones to be rejected, how many projects to run according to their capacity, when to start a development project and when to stop one, and how to decide among ongoing projects which the most important ones were. The companies’ problem was decision making in the context of innovation. According to literature, a deeper understanding is needed of the decision making process in innovation, taking into account its organizational and procedural complexities. The purpose of this thesis is to achieve an understanding of the decision making process in innovation. The thesis is based on an explorative study, with interviews carried out in three companies that have new product development as a core competitive factor. The empirical study focuses on the decisions made for selection and prioritization of different innovative alternatives. As a result of the analysis of the empirical data a conceptualization of the decision making process was developed. Furthermore, it was described the relevant problems that decision makers experience, the main characteristics of the decision making process and the role that decision making plays in innovation. The implications of these findings for designing work procedures to support decision making in innovation were discussed; and general descriptions of two practical methods suggested. The main findings indicate that for making decisions in the context of innovation, organizations must be able to face uncertain and ambiguous situations, and achieve a collective understanding about what is to be done. To do this, different approaches for making decisions and understanding innovation are needed. However, regardless of the appropriateness of these approaches, they receive different levels of acceptance within organizations; and decision makers must deal with the different grades of organizational acceptance of the different approaches. As a consequence, an organization displays certain dynamic using different approaches for making decisions and for understanding innovation. Such dynamic influences the companies’ innovative potential and the output of the innovation process.
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| 6. |
- Johansson, Glenn, 1967-
(författare)
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Environmental performance requirements in product development : an exploratory study of two development projects
- 2001
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In recent years, Ecodesign has attracted increased attention from researchers. In this thesis, the term Ecodesign refers to the actions taken and activities carried out originating from the incorporation of environmental performance requirements in a product development project. Earlier Ecodesign research has primarily focused on the development of various tools for supporting practitioners. Only a few studies have focused on how the incorporation of environmental performance requirements affects development projects and the changes that a development organisation undergoes to become more environmentally conscious. The objective of this thesis is therefore to explore characteristics of product development projects originating from the incorporation of environmental performance requirements.The empirical material has been collected from two in-depth case studies of product development projects in which new and complex business-to-business products were developed. The first case study addressed a project in which a telecommunications product was developed. The study occupied approximately 1 ½ years and was performed as a real-time, longitudinal study. The second case study was performed as an ex-post study and addressed a product development project in which a new power generating gas turbine was developed.The analysis, which takes as its starting point a number of essential product development elements derived from the literature, revealed a number of differences between the projects. These differences seem largely tobe due to different levels of Ecodesign experience in the development organisations carrying out each project. When relating the development organisations' level of Ecodesign experience to a three-phase model of theEcodesign integration process presented in earlier research, it was found that one of the organisations fitted into the model, whereas the other did not. On the basis of this finding, a fourth Ecodesign integration phase was detected and denoted the Innovative Ecodesign phase. Complementing the existing model with this new phase, the so-called Extended Ecodesign Integration model was developed. The model shows that the focus in development projects carried out within development organisations in the first three phases of Ecodesign seems to be set on the environment and integration of Ecodesign in the development process. Development organisations that have reached the Innovative Ecodesign phase tend to direct efforts in the projects mainlytowards the application of new technology and technical problem solving in order to fulfil the environmentalperformance requirements.
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| 7. |
- Kihlander, Ingrid, 1976-
(författare)
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Concept decisions in product development process
- 2009
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Successful concept decisions are crucial for product development organisations. Failure in theconcept decision-making process means costly rework, requiring resources that could havebeen spent on innovative work with new products instead. This licentiate thesis tackles theconcept decision-making process and how to improve it. The research presented here is thefirst part of a research project, with an action research approach, that will develop newsupporting working procedures for concept decision making and thereby contribute to moresuccessful products.Empirical studies were conducted in Swedish industrial practice, particularly focusing oneorganisation, and it was found that concept decisions are not made at a certain point in time.Instead, many decisions and activities, on several organisational levels, were adding up to theconcept decisions in the investigated organisations. The concept decision-making process wasfound to be a web of interconnected activities, with many decisions integrated and embedded in the process. Itwas also found that both formal and informal factors influence the concept decision-makingprocess and main factors were identified as: Project and product request, Supporting structures androutines, Individual competence and driving forces, Teamwork and company culture and Contextualcircumstances. These factors represent different perspectives, meaning on what level theyinfluence concept decision making: individual, team, project, organisation, and context, and in orderto create improvements in the concept decision-making process all levels have to beconsidered. The knowledge of the different perspectives has implications for howimprovements should be designed.Larger product developing companies do often have internally defined formal workingprocedures that prescribe how to develop products within the company. The thesis discusseshow the internal working procedures relate to academic theory and to practice. It wasconcluded that internal formal working procedures has not been discussed in a sufficient wayin earlier engineering design research. Furthermore, means for improving the concept decisionmakingprocess are discussed, and it was concluded, based on interviews with practitioners,that the strongest pragmatic means for improvement were developing mindset and applyingmethods. Mindset addresses the awareness, attitude and approach needed for management (andco-workers) working in early product development phases. Methods mainly addresses the needfor having relevant supporting working procedures in general and templates for evaluationalternative solutions in particular. Finally, recommendations for future design of a template forevaluation alternative solutions are presented.
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