Information leaders in product development organizational networks: Social network analysis of the design structure matrix

Diego Andres Batallas, Ali A. Yassine

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    131 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    Many models of Product Development (PD) are concerned with managing the decomposition and integration of tasks, teams and subsystems transforming a conceptual idea into a finished product. Specifically, a PD process is formed of cross-functional teams continuously exchanging information on specified tasks to integrate the product's final structure. Recently, it has been shown that large PD networks (e.g., tasks, teams, or components) follow a Scale Free structure. That is, each PD network included hubs that control information flow. Nevertheless, there is no literature on the implications of these findings on PD management. As a consequence, the objective of this paper is two-folded. First, we examine a set of mathematical measures such as centrality and brokerage used in Social Networks Analysis (SNA) to identify critical players in PD networks. Second, we link these findings to insights and recommendations for the management of complex PD organizational networks; in particular, detection and role designation of information leaders based on the given PD network structure.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)570-582
    Number of pages13
    JournalIEEE Transactions on Engineering Management
    Volume53
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Nov 2006

    Keywords

    • Centrality and brokerage measures
    • Design structure matrix
    • Information flow
    • Product development
    • Social networks

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