From Project to Process Management: An Empirically-Based Framework for Analyzing Product Development Time

Management Science, Vol. 41, No. 3, p. 458, 1995

Posted: 9 Apr 2007

See all articles by Paul S. Adler

Paul S. Adler

University of Southern California - Management and Organization Department

Avi Mandelbaum

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Vien Nguyen

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Elizabeth Schwerer

Independent

Abstract

Many organizations must manage concurrent projects that place competing demands on shared human and technical resources. An empirically based framework for analyzing development time in such contexts is developed. The product development organization is modeled as a stochastic processing network in which engineering resources are workstations and projects are jobs that flow between the workstations. At any given time, a job is either receiving service or queuing for access to a resource. The model's spreadsheets quantify this division of time, and the simulation experiments investigate the determinants of development cycle time. This class of models provides a useful managerial framework for studying product development because it enables formal performance analysis, and it points to data that should be collected by organizations seeking to improve development cycle times. Such models also provide a conceptual framework for characterizing commonalities and differences between engineering and manufacturing operations.

Suggested Citation

Adler, Paul S. and Mandelbaum, Avi and Nguyen, Vien and Schwerer, Elizabeth, From Project to Process Management: An Empirically-Based Framework for Analyzing Product Development Time. Management Science, Vol. 41, No. 3, p. 458, 1995, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=979104

Paul S. Adler (Contact Author)

University of Southern California - Management and Organization Department ( email )

Los Angeles, CA 90089
United States
213-740-0728 (Phone)
213-740-3582 (Fax)

Avi Mandelbaum

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

Vien Nguyen

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) ( email )

E53-353
Cambridge, MA 02139
United States
617-253-0486 (Phone)
617-258-7579 (Fax)

Elizabeth Schwerer

Independent

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