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Coordinating dispersed product development processes: A contingency perspective of project design and modelling

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  • To, Chester K.M.
  • Fung, Hon-Kwok
  • Harwood, Raymond J.
  • Ho, K.C.

Abstract

Managing worldwide supply pipeline operations concerns coordination and control of every step of the chain process starting from raw material sourcing, production, finally to distribution of market-specific items in retail places, all the way from product value inception and engineering, through manufacturing design, to the worldwide logistic planning. From systems perspectives, their relationships and interactions determine the overall performance. Coordinating such systems is very human-inclusive, characterised by abstract, ill-structured information interchange among well-partitioned expert groups. In this paper we documented the experience and implications of managing and modelling product development activities from a contingent perspective of interdependence. In our investigations amongst six international fashion corporations, crucial activity tasks in different countries were analyzed and evaluated within the context of launching schedule-driven fashion products. At the outset, we present the problem context, the issues arising from coordinating product development systems, and the approach we use to deal with the issues, i.e. modelling and manipulating the process interaction. We put forth a dependency-based process performance simulation, the related approach of data capture and the attribute constructs to represent the interactivity relationship. Finally, we discuss the computation process and evaluation strategy, which is indeed inspired by today's simulation-based optimization concepts. An effective GA heuristics is duly implemented.

Suggested Citation

  • To, Chester K.M. & Fung, Hon-Kwok & Harwood, Raymond J. & Ho, K.C., 2009. "Coordinating dispersed product development processes: A contingency perspective of project design and modelling," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(2), pages 570-584, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:120:y:2009:i:2:p:570-584
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Fung, Yi-Ning & Chan, Hau-Ling & Choi, Tsan-Ming & Liu, Rong, 2021. "Sustainable product development processes in fashion: Supply chains structures and classifications," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    2. To, Chester K.M. & Ko, Krista K.B., 2016. "Problematizing the collaboration process in a knowledge-development context," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 1604-1609.
    3. Rosa Lombardi & Raffaele Trequattrini & Federico Schimperna & Myriam Cano-Rubio, 2021. "The Impact of Smart Technologies on theManagement and Strategic Control: A Structured Literature Review," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(suppl. 1), pages 11-30.
    4. Ko, Krista K.B. & To, Chester K.M. & Zhang, Z.M. & Ngai, Eric W.T. & Chan, Theresa L.K., 2011. "Analytic collaboration in virtual innovation projects," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(12), pages 1327-1334.

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