Characterizing and measuring activity dependence in engineering projects

Nepomuk Chucholowski, Phillip Starke, Bryan R. Moser, Eric Rebentisch, Udo Lindemann

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

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

In an increasingly complex business environment program managers have to take dependencies within the product domain, process domain and organization into account. While activity dependence is still predominantly perceived as only an input-output relationship, a more detailed understanding of activity dependence is expected to improve program and project performance. This paper contributes to the understanding by presenting eight characteristics of activity dependence and 21 respective measures, all derived from literature and expert discussions. We further present an attempt to validate the characteristics and measures by means of a survey with 139 responses. While we could not prove the proposed characteristics wrong or right, we learned about the understanding of activity dependence and show future paths for further research in the paper. The possibility to significantly characterize activity dependence should support program and project managers with the identification of unknown but important dependencies and facilitate to select appropriate means for coordination.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPICMET 2016 - Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology
Subtitle of host publicationTechnology Management For Social Innovation, Proceedings
EditorsTimothy R. Anderson, Dundar F. Kocaoglu, Kiyoshi Niwa, Gary Perman, Dilek Cetindamar Kozanoglu, Tugrul U. Daim
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages2008-2017
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9781509035953
DOIs
StatePublished - 4 Jan 2017
Event2016 Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology, PICMET 2016 - Honolulu, United States
Duration: 4 Sep 20168 Sep 2016

Publication series

NamePICMET 2016 - Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology: Technology Management For Social Innovation, Proceedings

Conference

Conference2016 Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology, PICMET 2016
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityHonolulu
Period4/09/168/09/16

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