On the use of network analysis in product development teams

Joe A. Bradley, Ali A. Yassine

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

    6 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    In this paper, we consider the product development process as a network of interacting elements (e.g. development participants, physical subsystems/components, or development activities) exchanging information in order to achieve the common goal of developing a successful product or service. Drawing from network analysis (NA) techniques, we consider three network measures: single-node centrality, group-centrality, and the key-player problem. Using these measures, we determine a small subset of nodes within the network that is most important to the flow of information. That is, these nodes significantly control (i.e. receive, distribute, or process) more information than any other node in the network. Identification of this subset of nodes is essential to devise improved management strategies for information flow within the product development process. We find that when using NA techniques to analyze product development processes it is important to consider all three analysis measures because the different measures produce a different subset of top scoring nodes. We discuss some of the underlying reasons for these differences and conclude that the convenient measure(s) to use should be based on the particular development environment and the underlying managerial objectives. We demonstrate these measures and results by studying the development process of a large commercial aircraft engine.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationProceedings of 2006 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information In Engineering Conference, DETC2006
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 2006
    Event2006 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information In Engineering Conference, DETC2006 - Philadelphia, PA, United States
    Duration: 10 Sep 200613 Sep 2006

    Publication series

    NameProceedings of the ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference
    Volume2006

    Conference

    Conference2006 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information In Engineering Conference, DETC2006
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    CityPhiladelphia, PA
    Period10/09/0613/09/06

    Keywords

    • Fragmentation
    • Graph theory
    • Information flow
    • Network analysis
    • Product architecture
    • Product development

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