E.S. Kamata – författare

This book focuses on the interrelationship of social, technical, and organizational aspects of and related to the product development process. It originated from activities in practice in industry and research laboratories. In order to ensure relative autonomy from the short-term economic interests of a given industrial branch or specific company, the research for this work was first conducted in pursuit of a PhD thesis intended to provide practice-oriented results. With the ansatz practice – theory – practice, a generalizable approach was achieved. It then evolved to cover additional issues brought forth by recent cases in the aerospace industry, among others. A combination of scientific methodologies is used to focus on the psychological factors that influence the quality of technical product development processes. The basic framework is provided by the grounded theory—a qualitative approach, in which data was not only collected by this author but is extended to cases from the history of technology described in the published literature. The inclusion of historical cases is possible, thanks to the availability of sufficiently detailed descriptions for examination in terms of the grounded theory principles. They appear in the Appendix. Cases cited were verified by comparing them with contrasting viewpoints from various sources. I was able to examine and complement some cases by contacting persons associated with the programs analyzed. Quantitative studies are also integrated in this research to verify the elements resulting from the grounded theory integration.

Product development is a major determinant of quality and cost as companies throughout the world struggle to optimize product development processes. Engineering tasks are usually implicitly assumed to be a primarily technical activity, but in reality they also feature numerous nontechnical factors. This book focuses on the inter-relationships of social, technical, and organizational aspects of the product development process. Cases observed in industry and research laboratories are presented and interpreted based on the socio-technical system approach (Emery/Trist) of examining the reciprocal relationship between the technical and the social subsystems. This book is primarily intended for engineering and quality professionals who want to know the limitations of up-to-date methods used in product development, examine the so-called soft factors by means of grounded studies of their effect on R&D performance and not only to acknowledge the influence of soft factors, but to actively consider their potential to improve the work environment. Academic researchers of the topic should also find many references and material for advanced courses on project and quality management.In addition to numerous cases from the aerospace industry, its general solution concepts are generalizable to other industries in which the high degree of product complexity necessitates effective interaction among different disciplines. The historical evaluation is neither intended for introductory purposes nor to propose a return to the past, but as a survey of the relevant factors to be applied in present and future projects.