Managing complex development projects: arenas, knowledge processes and time

The literature on project management has been dominated by techniques and methods for separating activities and making thought out plans. Closely related to this research stream is the research on product development, which seems to advocate somewhat of a different strategy where managing projects is a matter of enabling the crossing of functions and knowledge bases. This paper attempts to integrate these two lines of research.
The paper is based on two in–depth case studies of project management in product development contexts. The projects under study were highly complex and consisted of multiple interrelated parts, which called for 'tightly coupled' organizational solutions. From our point of view, much effort by the project management teams was put into establishing a project that was responsive and where participating local units were oriented toward various 'global' measures.
In our conception, the overall deadline seemed to have played an important role for promoting communal and interactive problem solving. Furthermore, the deadline emphasized the need for global arenas where the interactive problem solving could take place. It is argued that time–based controls set a global time for the project. The paper also demonstrates the importance of various global arenas, such as testing activities and project management forums, in order to keep track of time limits and to trigger global knowledge processes. Furthermore, based on the notion of 'separation' and 'coupling' of sub–systems and project phases, the paper suggests a model identifying four types of project organizations. The paper contributes to the knowledge on project management in complex product development.     

Studying the effectiveness of conceptual design in secondary design and technology in England

The purpose of the study reported here was to investigate the effectiveness of a conceptual design unit as part of the Design and Technology curriculum for 14 years old pupils in England. One research question drove this study: What sort of designing do pupils do when they design without having to make what they have designed? Data consisted of the design ideas of a whole class developed during 6 lessons towards the end of an 18 lesson teaching sequence. Findings, which are in line with those of the pilot study, indicate that the pupils’ designing was highly iterative, creative, involved making a wide range of design decisions and revealed understanding of technological concepts.     

The contrary forces of innovation: A conceptual model for studying networked innovation processes

In this paper, we argue that industrial innovation processes can productively be analysed as consisting of two sub-processes that over time create and mobilise contrary forces within both internal and external interactions of the innovation project. One of these forces emerges from the process of mobilising resources, activities, and actors in ensuring commitments to the project over time. The other is the process of explorative learning, which continues to create revised or even new propositions about the realities of the project and its opportunities. We argue that this analytical distinction permits us to expand our understanding of how friction forces develop over time in business networks (Håkansson & Waluszewski, 2001a,b), the patterns of divergence and convergence in innovation processes as identified by Van de Ven et al. (1999) and the processes of “path creation through mindful deviation” as argued by Garud and Karnøe (2001).     

A conceptual framework for developing the curriculum and delivery of technology education in early childhood

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the analysis of the Early Childhood Education (ECE) curriculum in six countries involved in the UPDATE-project, and on that basis, propose a conceptual foundation for technology education in ECE that aims to enhance gender sensitive technology education in the continuum from early years to adulthood. The existing ECE curricula in the participating countries were analysed according to the general pedagogical approach as well as the contents specific to technology education. In many cases technology education was presented generally or implicitly, embedded in various curriculum content areas, and the existing curricula did not offer much support for teachers to figure out the nature, aims and pedagogical means of early childhood technology education. The comparison of the curricula raised some common key-issues which are important to construe more theoretically. In consequence, the article also focuses on the contemporary view of child-centred pedagogy and the conceptualisation of technology education fitting into the scope of ECE. Play is highlighted as a fundamental way of learning seldom studied in the context of technology education. In addition, a gender perspective on technology education deals with equal possibilities of both sexes to acquire knowledge, abilities and attitudes needed in technological agency.     

Complex technological knowledge and value creation in science-to-industry technology transfer projects: The moderating effect of absorptive capacity

This study seeks to enhance the understanding of the interplay between complex knowledge, absorptive capacity in terms of both absorptive capabilities and prior knowledge, and value creation. Drawing on a database of 127 science-to-industry R&D projects in technology-based markets, our study results show the inherent relevance of complexity and absorptive capabilities for value creation. Contrary to expectations, prior knowledge has no significant effect on value creation per se. Instead, the impact of complex technological knowledge on value creation is enhanced at high levels of both prior knowledge and absorptive capabilities. The findings suggest that following a well-worn path leads to competence traps, whereas knowledge-related learning capabilities enable a firm to deal with dynamic environments. The findings have implications for managerial decisions and theory regarding how value can be created from complex knowledge in technology transfer settings.     

Reusing design knowledge based on design cases and knowledge map

Design knowledge was reused for innovative design work to support designers with product design knowledge and help designers who lack rich experiences to improve their design capacity and efficiency. First, based on the ontological model of product design knowledge constructed by taxonomy, implicit and explicit knowledge was extracted from some design cases. The design knowledge was expressed using a constructional organization. With the knowledge map, design knowledge was illustrated to help novice designers reconstruct specific design cases, thus, encouraging innovative design. Four groups of designers were invited to participate in an experiment for the design knowledge map system. The experiment results verified the effectiveness of the method.     

Measuring organizational knowledge: a conceptual and methodological framework

Knowledge is fundamental to strategic success. Limited progress has been made, however, in measuring organizational knowledge. We employ research on resource‐based theory and organizational epistemology to suggest a perceptual approach to measuring knowledge. We present a research protocol to identify a domain of organizational knowledge resources within industries. Using a sample of organizations from the hospital and textile industries, we interviewed CEOs to identify the feasible set of knowledge resources. We presented this set to managers at those organizations to measure their perceptions of the value‐added of each knowledge resource for their organizations. The results demonstrate that the importance of knowledge resources varies by industry and organization, and calls to question efforts to generate an inventory of generic knowledge resources that is applicable across industries. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Managing knowledge in industrial markets: New dimensions and challenges

Managing knowledge in industrial markets has become an increasingly important task in the last 10 years. Many industrial firms paid little attention to the topic, since it was felt that knowledge was easily handled internally and was a simple process. The growth of information technology that centered on the collection, analysis and dissemination of information during the 1990's and early 2000's has necessitated that managing knowledge be taken seriously by industrial marketing managers. By doing so industrial firms can make available increased knowledge content in the development and provision of products and services to industrial marketing managers on all levels of the firm, achieve shorter new product development cycles, and facilitate and manage organizational innovation and learning. This article outlines the new dimensions in knowledge management in industrial marketing that are important for industrial managers, academic researchers, and business firms to understand for the future.     

Emotions, trust and relationship development in business relationships: A conceptual model for buyer-seller dyads

Existing research on buyer-seller relationships has focused on the role played by trust in shaping the dynamics of interpersonal interaction between the buyer and the seller. While this is undoubtedly an important variable in governing the interactional dynamics it is by no means the only variable. The paper begins by reviewing the existing literature on buyer-seller relationships. The role played by emotions is articulated. Finally, it is recognized that the emotions that emerge in a buyer-seller relationship do so at multiple levels. A model and propositions highlighting the impact of emotions on interpersonal relationships are developed. Illustrative cases are used to ground the propositions empirically.     

Problem-solving processes in technology education: A pilot study

This paper reports the preliminary results of a pilot study investigating the nature of problem-solving activity in technology classrooms. The research focuses on the relationship and potential mismatch between teachers' and children's agendas, aims, perceptions and beliefs concerning design and technology activities. A case study of an 11-week project was undertaken with four pupils aged 13. In-depth classroom observation and interviews allowed us to investigate the problem solving used in designing and making a kite, and the pupils' application of the knowledge required. Our analysis charts the influence of the teacher's task structuring and interventions on the children's problem-solving behaviour. The results indicate that the design process is highly complex and not always communicated successfully by teachers. What children typically encounter in design and technology projects are different problems requiring different approaches according to the kind of task and the stage reached in its solution. The popular idea that problem solving in technology denotes a holistic design-and-make process is hence under challenge. Moreover, the assumed access and application of relevant bodies of knowledge from other contexts is highly problematic.     

A social network supported CAI model for tacit knowledge acquisition

Freehand sketching is one of the most important and commonly used methods of generating and sharing budding ideas during the conceptual development portion of the preliminary phase of design. To develop one’s skills, prolonged practice, acquiring instant feedback and suggestions while practicing are invaluable. The two key and indispensable parts of learning draftsmanship are viewing and commenting on large numbers of free hand sketches. However, due to insufficient educational resources, instructors must spend most of their time engaged in class-room teaching, reducing the time allotted for one-on-one discussion and specialized assistance. Furthermore, the lack of sketch grading criteria can prevent students from developing proper insights into the essentials of sketching. As a result, students neither receive personalized feedback nor acquire adequate training in critiquing freehand sketching skills. These factors decrease learning effectiveness and negatively impact learning motivation. In order to solve this problem, this research has created a discussion platform on Facebook that utilizes the learning characteristics essential to developing proficiency in freehand sketching. It includes practice, observation, and comments. It has been found that this cultivates the subjects’ ability to judge freehand sketch quality and increases learning motivation and effectiveness through the process of peer-assessment. After participating in the one-semester teaching experiment, the abilities of the experimental group were significantly better than those of the control group, demonstrating that the online sketch discussion platform has a significant impact on freehand sketch learning.     

Multiple dimensions of power influencing knowledge integration in supply chains

This study investigates how multiple dimensions of power each facilitate knowledge integration within innovation projects in supply chains and their interrelationships. Adopting a process perspective of knowledge, we offer an alternative to much of the existing debate, which has focussed on the possession of resources. We collected data from four case-study Original Equipment Manufacturers and six associated suppliers and analysed these using Template Analysis and cross-case analysis. Our findings reveal how the power of the system, operationalized through relative performance measures, performance measurement mechanisms and the individuals in-charge of them, provides a facilitative context within which other dimensions of power operate. Here, the power of resources (expert and legitimate power), processes (associated with raising issues, cross-functional teams, early supplier involvement and reviews) and meaning (creating legitimacy through reviews) interact to support knowledge integration within innovation projects in supply chains. This, we argue, emphasises the plurality of power dimensions deployed and importance of their interrelationships in facilitating knowledge integration within hierarchical supply chain networks.     

Analysing teacher knowledge for technology education in primary schools

Teacher knowledge guides a teacher’s behaviour in the classroom. Teacher knowledge for technology education is generally assumed to play an important role in affecting pupils’ learning in technology. There are an abundant number of teacher knowledge models that visualise different domains of teacher knowledge, but clear empirical evidence on how these domains interact is lacking. Insights into the interaction of teacher knowledge domains could be useful for teacher training. In this study, the hypothesised relations between different domains of teacher knowledge for technology education in primary schools were empirically investigated. Subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy were measured with tests and questionnaires. Results from a path analysis showed that subject matter knowledge is an important prerequisite for both pedagogical content knowledge and self-efficacy. Subsequently, teachers’ self-efficacy was found to have a strong influence on teachers’ attitude towards technology. Based on the findings in this study, it is recommended that teacher training should first of all focus on the development of teachers’ subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. This knowledge will positively affect teachers’ confidence in teaching and, in turn, their attitude towards the subject. More confidence in technology teaching and a more positive attitude are expected to increase the frequency of technology education, which consequently increases teaching experience and thereby stimulates the development of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge. This circle of positive reinforcement will eventually contribute to the quality of technology education in primary schools.     

Promoting student-led science and technology projects in elementary teacher education: entry into core pedagogical practices through technological design

Future elementary school teachers often lack self-efficacy for teaching science and technology. They are particularly anxious about encouraging children to carry-out student-directed, open-ended scientific inquiry and/or technological design projects. Moreover, because this often also is the case with practising elementary school teachers, it is difficult for student–teachers to gain practical experience facilitating student-led project work during practicum sessions. To provide student–teachers with expertise and motivation for promoting student-directed, open-ended project work, therefore, a group of future elementary teachers were taken through a constructivism-informed ‘apprenticeship’ during their university-based teaching methods course and then invited to make project work the subject of the action research that they were required to complete during their practicum. In this paper, successes that one student–teacher (out of 78 studied) experienced in promoting student-directed, open-ended technological design projects are reported. Although she judged children’s designs to be modestly successful, data indicate that her self-efficacy for promoting project work increased significantly. Analyses of qualitative data collected during the methods course and practicum also indicate that aspects of the curriculum, teachers, students and milieu appeared to contribute to this success. Such findings suggest that teacher educators should focus on helping future elementary teachers to develop expertise and motivation that would enable and encourage children to conduct technological design projects before conducting scientific inquiries. Such a tack may be the most pragmatic—and, arguably, epistemologically-sound—approach for helping ‘science- and technology-phobic’ student–teachers to move from the periphery to the core of practices in science and technology education.     

全球定位系统（GPS）技术在水利工程中的应用

结合全球定位系统（GPS）测量技术在水利工程中的测量应用原理,对其在渭干河流域水下地形测量、新疆吐鄯托盆地某大型水库测量项目中的测量实践进行了相应的探讨,并提出了应用中存在的技术问题,以供同行参考。     

From the islands of knowledge to a shared understanding: interdisciplinarity and technology literacy for innovation in smart electronic product design

In the context of the evolving Internet, a balance between technological advances and meaning change is crucial to develop innovative and breakthrough “connected electronics” that enable the Internet of Things. Designers and technologists are key enablers of this process respectively, ensuring adequate users’ needs and technology development, inside the evolving context of social environment and human relations. Smart electronic product design must be a truly interdisciplinary process, in which technologists are aware of how much their decisions impact the user-product relationship and designers understand the full potential and associated limitations of technology involved. Shared knowledge and communication are essential in this scenario, but, due to their technological limitations, designers are often excluded from high-level decision processes. In this paper, we address the design of constructivist tools and associated strategy to enhance the technological literacy of designers, as a strong foundation for knowledge-based dialogue between these realms. We demonstrate its effectiveness in a long-term multidisciplinary Project-Based Learning application with Design and Electronics students. We present the cases from 2 years’ experimentation (with the first year as control group) that demonstrate improvement in the quality of teamwork; in learning results; improved performance of the students reflected in the quality of the projects developed; and positive teachers’ and students’ evaluations. We conclude that the use of the proposed tool not only provides the designer an active voice in the process of designing smart electronics, but also promotes an effective common language between these two worlds.     

A model of creative design process for fostering creativity of students in design education

Creativity, which is concerned with problem solving, is essential if we are to generate new solutions to the massive and complex problems in the unknown future. Our next generation needs an educational platform where they can be taught to possess creativity. Design education is such a way to foster students’ creativity. Therefore, it is essential to understand the creative design process and its routine in order to show how students can generate creative output and how teachers can guide students in the design process. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to investigate the creative design process as it is employed in producing creative designs, and further recommend how students can practise and learn to be creative based on the model process developed in this paper. The model is expected to provide a guideline for teachers to facilitate students along the creative thinking process.     

The energy conservation demonstration projects scheme; A case study in technology transfer

The author has investigated the causes of the relative failure of ETSU-sponsored energy saving projects. Using a set of characteristics of successful innovations proposed by Twiss the author assessed how far a number of ETSU projects met them. He concludes that the major cause of failure was over-stressing product performance and under-stressing market need. This fault was compounded by the effects of a number of organisational variables over which ETSU had too little executive control. He concludes that innovatory projects proceeding under this kind of management system are more likely to fail than succeed and public money should not be spent on them.     

Uncovering procedural knowledge in craft,design, and technology education: a case of hands-on activities in electronics

Different knowledge types have their own specific features and tasks in the learning process. Procedural knowledge is used in craft and technology education when students solve problems individually and share their working knowledge with others. This study presents a detailed analysis of a one student’s learning process in technology education and the procedural knowledge used during learning tasks. Thus, procedural knowledge is mainly produced when acting, and includes students’ goal-directed actions related to the craft, design and technology processes and their learning content. These knowledge practices also include multiple interactions with teachers and other students. The findings show six different knowledge practices: observing, checking and asking, revising, guided representative action, self-directed representative action, and comprehended action. These knowledge practices actively relate to each other, and, in concert, they constitute chains of actions that constitute two different types of procedural knowledge: proactive knowledge and executive knowledge. We conclude by discussing how these knowledge practices can be used to develop our understanding of the teaching and learning of craft, design and technology.