In-House Globalization: The Role of Globally Distributed Design and Product Architecture on Product Development Performance

This article surveys the literature and develops a framework for research into the integration of distributed knowledge work (DKW). Knowledge work is considered to be “distributed” whenever key decisions for execution of the project cut across organizational boundaries, as occurs under outsourcing, offshoring, or open‐source arrangements. The growth of such arrangements in recent years is well documented. Nonetheless, research into maintaining the coherence of a DKW project from initiation to customer delivery, often referred to as supply chain integration, project or systems integration, or simply “integration,” is relatively new. We first review the relevant literature from operations, service, and information management, organizational theory, and engineering design, focusing on the key decisions identified by this literature in relation to the contracting, organization, work, and information infrastructure design of a knowledge work project. We then attempt to open the “black box” of integration by inductively organizing these key decisions. Finally, we contrast this approach with prior research frameworks and identify key topics for future study.

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“…(), Staats (), Handley and Benton (), and Gokpinar et al. (). In a finer grained analysis, Liker et al.…”

Section: Integration Challenges and Decisionsunclassified

“…For example, Gokpinar et al. () showed that centrality in product architecture amplifies the negative impact of global dispersion on subsystem outcomes. Langlois and Robertson () and Baldwin and Clark () argued that higher levels of modularity should be associated with higher rates of component innovation.…”

Section: Integration Challenges and Decisionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integration of Global Knowledge Networks

Anderson

Parker

2013

Production and Operations Management

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“…In this space, two studies are related to our article. First, Gokpinar, Hopp, and Iravani () study coordination challenges that delay ECOs. In contrast, our focus is on the characterization of task uncertainty and the consequent implications for task flow management.…”

Section: Literature Review: Background and Contributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing uncertain tasks in technology‐intensive project environments: A multi‐method study of task closure and capacity management decisions

Narayanan

Balasubramanian

Swaminathan

et al. 2019

J of Ops Management

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Engineers working on tasks in technology‐intensive project environments face substantial task resolution uncertainty. This can result in poor capacity utilization as they expend effort on tasks that are not successfully resolved. A deeper understanding of task‐related uncertainty can help the firm optimize effort allocation across tasks by implementing well‐designed task closure policies that facilitate superior capacity utilization and capacity planning. In this article, we characterize the empirical distribution of task uncertainty and demonstrate how the resolution process affects task outcomes in project environments. Using a combination of empirical estimation, and analytical and simulation modeling, we develop insights into task‐related decision‐making and engineer effort allocation. Using real‐world task resolution data from a software maintenance setting, we first model and estimate a beta‐geometric survival distribution which indicates that the likelihood of successful task resolution substantially reduces with the time a task remains in the system. Using analytical and simulation modeling, we then examine the implications of imposing task closure policies to improve engineer effort allocation and increase system productivity. We demonstrate that adopting well‐designed task closure policies can significantly improve engineer resource utilization in capacity‐constrained settings without a substantial negative impact on project outcomes. We discuss the implications of our research for theory and practice.

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In-House Globalization: The Role of Globally Distributed Design and Product Architecture on Product Development Performance

Cited by 2 publications

References 52 publications

Integration of Global Knowledge Networks

Integration of Global Knowledge Networks

Managing uncertain tasks in technology‐intensive project environments: A multi‐method study of task closure and capacity management decisions

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