Paul D. Collins

Flexibility and Standardization: Test of a Contingency Model of Product Design–Manufacturing Integration

This article proposes and tests a contingency model of system integration of product design and manufacturing among producers of goods involving tooling development. The model predicts which combinations of organizational and technical practices will be most effective under conditions of high and low design newness. The results, based on data from 74 firms, largely support the model. Differentiating mechanisms, such as a tall hierarchy and job specialization, are negatively associated with design–manufacturing integration, particularly for new designs. Socio-integrative mechanisms, including such flexible practices as cross-functional teaming and collocation, are positively related to design–manufacturing integration for new designs only. However, the use of in-process design controls is positively related to design–manufacturing integration regardless of design newness, which suggests that some modes of standardization may be beneficial even for new designs.

Organizational and Technological Predictors of Change in automaticity

Programmable automation lies at the heart of competitive manufacturing, yet many firms have been slow to adopt new production technologies. This study attempted to develop a theory of change in aut...

Web3D in ocean science learning environments: virtual big beef creek

The Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML), Java 3D software development packages, and World Wide Web (the Web) offer great potential for delivering three-dimensional, collaborative virtual environments to broad, on-line audiences. These capabilities have significant potential in ocean sciences, so a visualization environment was developed to explore these possibilities. The University of Washingtons Virtual Big Beef Creek (VBBC) project has been continuously refined since its initial implementation in April 1999. VBBC affords users the ability to navigate through a data-rich representation of a physical world estuary on Washington States Olympic Peninsula. One important project goal is to give users a better sense of the overall watershed before they venture out to experience it in person. A second significant goal is to provide a single on-line repository for geo-referenced data obtained through fieldwork (both quantitative and qualitative). The research team has gained insight into application improvements through the participation of Ocean Sciences graduate students, video game enthusiasts, and the general public. In this paper, research challenges, project successes, and project shortcomings are discussed that may inform the larger Web3D community.

High-Technology Batch Production Systems: Woodwards Missing Type

The article examines Woodwards typology for classifying technology that distinguished between batch, mass and continuous-process production systems. A discussion is presented about the impact of r...

States of Connectivity: New Questions and New Directions

A recent article in Organization Studies used in its title the term ‘constant connectivity’. Though we commonly think of connectivity as ‘constant’, temporal intermittency and actor agency make connectivity seldom, if ever, constant. Reflecting on studies of connectivity highlights the growing importance of recognizing and defining ‘states’ of connectivity. Several states of connectivity are reviewed, namely: hypo-connectivity, hyper-connectivity, requisite and optimal connectivity (‘flow’). As an organizational resource, understanding various states of connectivity is critical to future research. More empirical work is needed to determine how the volume of connectivity makes a difference to performance and other outcomes.

Implications of Computer-Aided Design for Work and Performance

In a study of the implications of computer-aided design (CAD) for work and performance, the authors tested the proposition that CAD not only is superior to manual drafting and design technology, but also leads to job designs and work group structures that further improve the performance of designers and drafters. The sample consisted of 88 current and prospective CAD users at two adjacent facilities of a large research and manufacturing corporation. Based on questionnaire responses and interviews with the designers, drafters, and supervisors, the authors found that CADs benefits are linked to the characteristics of the dominant technology, job design, and work group. Therefore, fulfilling the promise of CAD depends considerably on how well the concomitant changes in the workplace are managed.

EARLY SIMULTANEOUS INFLUENCE OF MANUFACTURING ACROSS STAGES OF THE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS: IMPACT ON TIME AND COST

This paper focuses on the concept of ESI (early simultaneous influence) as a cornerstone of concurrent engineering. How much influence downstream functions such as manufacturing engineering should exert in product design decisions is investigated by stage of development. Six stages were defined as: (1) research, (2) product concept, (3) prototype and test, (4) final design, (5) tooling and facilities, and (6) ramp-up to full production. Performance is measured as time compression at the tooling and facilities stage and reduction in manufactured cost. Results from analysis of 74 companies suggest that manufacturing influence has significant effects on performance at the first three stages. Its peak impact is at the third stage, a crossroads of work by up and downstream functions. If the design is new, however, the peak impact of ESI is earlier as indicated by significant interaction effects at the research and product concept stages. We also show that high levels of manufacturing influence at the end stage have a weak negative interaction effect with performance when designs are new. To the extent that high levels of manufacturing influence within their own domain preclude reciprocal influence by upstream functions, this result is consistent with the notion of concurrency as simultaneous influence by multiple functions at all points along the value chain.

Profiles of leaders, followers, and laggards in programmable automation adoption

Programmable automation (PA) helps firms compete in a marketplace that is increasingly requiring higher quality production and continual product redesign. Yet only a small percentage of firms actually use some form of this technology, and even they have not capitalized on its full technical potential. Why do some firms choose to adopt PA technologies while others do not? How is the use of these technologies related to the firms technology strategy, human resources, and organization design? Results show that leaders operated in more technologically intensive industries that were experiencing more overall growth. Leaders generally held a technology strategy that emphasized product quality and product differentiation in the form of minor and major product changes, but not fundamentally new products. Finally, leaders were more likely to have a hybrid organic-mechanistic type of organization design that was relatively flat and emphasized personal control.

Programmable Automation and the Locus of Decision-Making Power

Computer-based technology is often credited with making decentralized decision-making possible, helping firms to respond rapidly to changing market conditions. Research on this subject, however, shows contradictory effects: some studies support decentralization and others support centralization. This longitudinal study examines how one form of computer-based technology, programmable automation (PA), affects centralization. Unlike previous studies, it attempts to clear up some of the confusion surrounding technology’s effect on centralization by distinguishing between strategic and operating decisions, and between decision-making authority and influence. As expected, PA flattened the hierarchy. It had no effect on strategic decision-making power, but surprisingly, did influence centralized line-operating authority and influence. This finding is particularly striking because firms with decentralized line-operating decision-making are more likely to adopt PA.