Project management: Recent developments and research opportunities

This paper studies the business process known as project management. This process has exhibited a remarkable growth in business interest over the last 15 years, as demonstrated by a 1000% increase in membership in the Project Management Institute since 1996. This growth is largely attributable to the emergence of many new diverse business applications that can be successfully managed as projects. The new applications for project management include IT implementations, research and development, new product and service development, corporate change management, and software development. The characteristics of modern projects are typically very different from those of traditional projects such as construction and engineering, which necessitates the development of new project management techniques. We discuss these recent practical developments. The history of project management methodology is reviewed, from CPM and PERT to the influential modern directions of critical chain project management and agile methods. We identify one important application area for future methodological change as new product and service development. A list of specific research topics within project management is discussed. The conclusions suggest the existence of significant research opportunities within project management.     

Knowledge reconstruction and justification for regional vitalization

This paper considers the regional vitalization problem and discusses the methodology to create regional vitalization plans, which include activating the local economy, enriching people＇s lives, and activating the feelings of people, by new initiatives. Activily underlying the methodology is the experience of implementing several actual projects with the local residents, and theory underlying the methodology is the knowledge construction and justification theory based on knowledge management and systems thinking. Introducing an actual vitalization project as an illustrative example, the paper proposes a knowledge reconstruction and justification procedure for regional vitalization.     

Electronic support for knowledge creation in a research institute

This paper focuses on the question how to build an electronic support environment for knowledge creation in a research institute （JAIST）. In order to assess the importance of diverse conditions of scientific creativity, we performed a survey in JAIST, and extracted useful knowledge from the database of survey results. Following the analysis of the theory of academic processes of knowledge creation and the survey findings in JAIST, a computer-based integrated system is proposed. In the aspect of the system design, we postulate that an electronic support environment for academic creativity can be achieved through a seamless integration with Internet, Application Server, Middle Ware, Database and Data Warehouse. The paper addresses issues of knowledge representation in the Electronic Support System for academic research, testing and evaluation issues and conclusions.     

Establish a creative environment for roadmapping in academy—From the perspective of <Emphasis Type="Italic">i</Emphasis>-system methodology

Roadmapping, originated from industry as a strategic planning tool, is attracting increasing applications in academy. Based on the recognition that roadmapping is a knowledge creation process, this paper analyzes what kind of support is needed or helpful for establishing a creative environment for roadmapping in academy and reviews various types of such support from the perspective of i-system methodology. As case studies of such support, this paper further introduces roadmapping pratices in Janpan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.     

ESTABLISH A CREATIVE ENVIRONMENT FOR ROADMAPPING IN ACADEMY—FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF I-SYSTEM METHODOLOGY

Roadmapping,originated from industry as a strategic planning tool,is attracting increasing applications in academy.Based on the recognition that roadmapping is a knowledge creation process, this paper analyzes what kind of support is needed or helpful for establishing a creative environment for roadmapping in academy and reviews various types of such support from the perspective of i-system methodology.As case studies of such support,this paper further introduces roadmapping pratices in Janpan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.     

Complexity and intransitivity in technological development

This paper investigates the existence of a fundamental link between two disciplines that emerged during last few decades： complexity science and advanced engineering. During this time many industries, especially those related to the high-tech end of technological development, have faced the problem of increasing complexity of design, production and operation. Industrial projects have grown to become multidisciplinary, tightly interconnected, costly and difficult to control and predict. Two trends can be identified in this respect： one is the consistent effort of systems engineering in reducing the uncertainties of complex industrial operations and the other is the effort undertaken in complexity studies to account for uncertainties present in the real world.
In this work, we provide a brief overview of recent developments in advanced engineering and give a consistent interpretation of technological evolution from the perspective of complexity science in general and complex competitive systems （CCS） in particular. CCS is a general framework that was recently developed for analysis of complex systems involving competition. Transitivity of the decision-making process and the cyclic nature of technological progress are considered. Correctness of intransitive decisions is inherently relativistic： the same decisions can be seen as correct or incorrect when considered from different perspectives. When treated simplistically, intransitivity may seem to be illogical but, nevertheless, it is common in nature and needs to be studied. CCS provides a formalised scientific framework for analysis of intransitivity and establishes the existence of an important connection linking complexity and uncertainty with intransitivity. Implications of intransitivity for engineering decision-making and strategic planning are considered in the context of CCS. A working example of intransitivity in competition between major car mantifacturers is presented.     

A model for knowledge transfer in a multi-agent organization based on lattice kinetic model

A study on knowledge transfer in a mutli-agent organization is performed by applying the basic principle in physics such as the kinetic theory.Based on the theoretical analysis of the knowledge accumulation process and knowledge transfer attributes,a special type of knowledge field(KF)is introduced and the knowledge diffusion equation(KDE)is developed.The evolution of knowledge potential is modeled by lattice kinetic equation and verified by numerical experiments.The new equation-based modeling developed in this paper is meaningful to simulate and predict the knowledge transfer process in firms.The development of the lattice kinetic model(LKM)for knowledge transfer can contribute to the knowledge management theory,and the managers can also simulate the knowledge accumulation process by using the LKM.     

Bayesian estimation of a power law process with incomplete data

Due to the simplicity and flexibility of the power law process,it is widely used to model the failures of repairable systems.Although statistical inference on the parameters of the power law process has been well developed,numerous studies largely depend on complete failure data.A few methods on incomplete data are reported to process such data,but they are limited to their specific cases,especially to that where missing data occur at the early stage of the failures.No framework to handle generic scenarios is available.To overcome this problem,from the point of view of order statistics,the statistical inference of the power law process with incomplete data is established in this paper.The theoretical derivation is carried out and the case studies demonstrate and verify the proposed method.Order statistics offer an alternative to the statistical inference of the power law process with incomplete data as they can reformulate current studies on the left censored failure data and interval censored data in a unified framework.The results show that the proposed method has more flexibility and more applicability.     

Design for availability: A holistic approach to create value for manufacturers and customers of capital goods

This research introduces a holistic framework called Design for Availability that uses the principles of Lean Sigma and Design for X to cost-effectively optimize the availability of capital goods(i.e., technical systems used in the production of end-products or -services such as medical systems, airplanes,and manufacturing equipment) throughout their entire lifetime.Manufacturers require such a framework because users of capital goods increasingly insist on high system availability levels against reduced lifetime costs.The Design for Availability framework allows manufacturers to determine the current status of system availability and associated lifetime costs,and to identify opportunities to create additional value for themselves and their customers.A case study at a global manufacturer of capital goods in the food processing industry illustrates how the framework can be used in practice and to what extent the manufacturer and customers may profit from applying Design for Availability.     

Allocation Planning for R&D with Uncertainty:Model and Procedure

A decision support model with the stochastic objective function measuring the benefitcontributions of projects and stochastic resource constraint and its decision making analysis pro-cedure with the case study are presented for selecting R＆D projects,in which the uncertainty inproject evaluation and selection,the technical or outcome,cost or resource and benefit or payoffinterrelationships among projects,and the experience and knowledge of ther R＆D manager can beconsidered.     

A Holistic Approach for Designing Human-Centric Trust Systems

Online trust systems, albeit existing as technical implementations, aim to translate the role that trust has in the traditional world onto the virtual platforms. Establishing the inter-dependence between these systems and the human-factor is essential for reducing, but more importantly for understanding the inherent complexity of the open social platforms, and for improving the user-experience and system-performance. This work determines the systemic features of trust and introduces a novel framework of design-properties based on the principles of General Systems Theory. We determine the systemic properties which lack in the current technical solutions, and incorporate social factors into the design-guidelines of trust systems. We introduce four influence-factors and demonstrate that accounting for those factors leads to compliance with the generic system-principles. Finally, we employ case study analysis following the premises of case study research established in the social science literature. By performing semantic analysis of the state of the art on trust systems, we are able to identify two semantic clusters to which trust research belongs, and to choose in a non-random manner the representative case studies for evaluation upon our framework. To our knowledge, this is the first study applying fundamental social science principles from General Systems Theory and case-study research for the purpose of theory-building and evaluation of technical human-centric solutions.     

基于知识的产品开发集成系统研究与应用

研究了基于知识的产品开发集成系统的关键技术、应用架构、技术开发与应用实现等方面的内容，提出了基于知识的产品开发集成系统体系结构，原型系统功能构架体系结构，产品开发流程描述，在研究分析设计知识定义及基于“规则 实例”的包括加权频率属性约简等算法的推理机制的基础上，构建知识库系统，进行基于知识的产品开发集成系统集成平台的开发与应用实现，实现的原型系统具有机械设计和电子设计集成智能辅助功能。     

Scheduling of Development Projects with Uncertain Iterations

1. INTRoDUCTIONWith concurrent engineering principles widely used to cut short lead take resulting in tightly coupled tasks,the delay of a single task may have a domino effect on subsequent tasks and on other projects sharing designersand/or resources. Generating good and robust schedules and reducing the adverse consequences of risks arethus becoming critical [11.After the introduction of network scheduling techniques of PERT and CPM for project planning withoutconsidering the resource…     

基于价值分析的虚拟企业过程集成方法的研究

阐述了价值分析和BPR理论对虚拟企业过程集成的作用,提出一种基于价值分析的过程集成方法,给出了价值的模糊分析方法和集成方案的模糊评估方法,并研究了虚似企业过程参考模型.     

基于复合信息空间的决策理论与方法

经过多年的研究和实践，系统工程学术界取得了如下的共识：在进行研究与开发复杂大系统时，在但要考虑各种状态因素的影响，同时还必须考虑人、组织及环境等行为因素的影响，本文提出了复合信息空间的理论与给出了考虑两种因素的结构化方法，包括因素分析、关系分析、系统功能分析和系统综合设计，可以看出，该方法可作为各种复杂大系统分析综合的方法基础。     

Experience in the Practice of One Tradition of Multimethodology

This paper explores issues arising from the growing experience in the practice of just one of the traditions of multimethodology, namely that associated with a set of theoretical principles labeled pragmatic pluralism, and a methodological framework which is being developed to put these into action, namely, PANDA (participatory appraisal of needs and the development of action). The paper begins with a short historical introduction to the tradition of multimethodology under consideration; Section 2 then briefly describes some of the main features and principles involved in the PANDA framework. We then present three short case studies to illustrate different features of PANDA in action. The concluding section reflects on the issues that arise from the use of PANDA and discusses our future agenda for its development.     

A Systemic Framework to Develop Sustainable Engineering Solutions in Rural Communities in Colombia

In several rural areas in Colombia there is a serious lack of water quality supply. Thereby the problematic situation is understood as complex one that involves stakeholders with pluralistic interests, multiple variables and requires the development of sustainable and suitable solutions. In order to address this issue, this paper proposes an integration of engineering design framework (CDIO) with a systemic approach. Particularly the approach emphasizes on systemic elements such as autonomy, systems within systems, cooperation between stakeholders and cause effect relations; it also proposes a previous observing phase for engineering design framework. Thus the proposed systemic framework aims to generate projects that improve living conditions in rural communities and promote the production of knowledge between the stakeholders to ensure sustainability in the long term. To illustrate the proposal, this work contains a case study that discusses a project carried out by a research team—Ingenieros Sin Fronteras Colombia—in a rural district near to Colombia’s capital. The experience, which involved and benefited 16 families in the community, provided strong evidence to support the proposed framework. The paper concludes with a discussion about the replication of this proposal in other contexts.     

信息系统项目四元评价模型及其准确度研究

根据从定性到定量综合集成方法论理论 ,将改进的德尔菲、层次分析、灰色关联及模糊综合评价集成 ,提出了评价信息系统项目的四元评价模型 ,介绍了四元模型的工作步骤并对其准确度进行了分析和验证 .