Influence of Psychological Factors on Product Development: Lessons from Aerospace and Other Industries (Space Technology Library)

432 Pages·2002·7.17 MB·English

by  E.S. Kamata

INFLUENCE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
ON PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
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Influence
of Psychological
Factors on Product
Development
Lessons from Aerospace
and other Industries
by
Eginaldo Shizuo Kamata
KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK,BOSTON, DORDRECHT, LONDON, MOSCOW
eBookISBN: 0-306-48079-4
Print ISBN: 1-4020-0807-4
©2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers
NewYork, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow
Print ©2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers
Dordrecht
All rights reserved
No part of this eBook maybe reproducedor transmitted inanyform or byanymeans,electronic,
mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without written consent from the Publisher
Created in the United States of America
Visit Kluwer Online at: http://kluweronline.com
and Kluwer's eBookstoreat: http://ebooks.kluweronline.com
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here,now, always
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.
T. S. Eliot, Little Gidding, 1944
To my Origins
v
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Contents
Contents vii
Acknowledgments xiii
Foreword by Eberhard Ulich xv
Summary xvii
1 1
QUALITY OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.1.1 Quality, soft factors and the aerospace industry 15
1.1.2 Objective of this book 21
1.2 Information for the reader 22
1.2.1 Learning from failures 22
1.2.2 From the past to the future 23
1.2.3 Introductory note for engineering professionals concerning data
from social studies 26
1.2.4 Nomenclature 27
1.2.5 Notation 30
2 33
HISTORICAL CONTEXT 33
2.1 Introduction 33
2.2 Social sciences 33
vii
viii Contents
2.3 Scientific methodology in engineering 44
2.4 Quality and reliability systems 50
2.5 Project management 62
2.6 Skunk Works 71
2.7 Simultaneous engineering 74
2.7.1 Successes and failures 74
2.7.2 Learning effect 77
2.7.3 Focus on technical aspects 79
2.7.4 Role of information technologies 80
2.7.5 Influence of human issues 84
2.7.6 One more aspect to consider 86
2.8 Concluding remarks 87
3 89
SHAPING THE DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT 89
3.1 Modeling the complexity of R&D processes 89
3.1.1 Phase models 89
3.1.2 Process models 96
3.1.3 Search for the “one best way” vs. interaction theory 99
3.2 Project management approach 101
3.2.1 Network resolutions and the Tayloristic tendency 101
3.2.2 Time and cost estimation 103
3.2.3 Progress reporting 107
3.2.4 Uncertainty and the nature of management 110
3.3 Quality systems 111
3.4 Control of development 118
3.4.1 Technical issues 120
3.4.2 Product specifications 123
3.4.3 Checklists, references, workmanship standards 123
3.4.4 Non-technical issues 129
3.4.5 Semantic aspect of control 135
3.5 Autonomy 136
3.6 Design review 144
3.6.1 Basic idea 144
3.6.2 Implementation issues 146
3.7 Competition and its driving forces 151
3.8 Concluding remarks 157
Contents ix
4 159
INTRAPERSONAL FACTORS 159
4.1 Dirty-hands philosophy and the yardstick 159
4.2 Self-actualizers 165
4.2.1 Main characteristics ofinterest 166
4.2.2 Relevance to development activities 168
4.2.3 Collective orientation 170
4.2.4 Attitude andinformationprocessing 170
4.2.5 Problem centering 174
4.2.6 Self-actualizers in development 176
4.3 Fear and courage 177
4.4 Orientation to perceiving and solving problems 183
4.4.1 Problem avoidance 183
4.4.2 Automatic responsibility 185
4.4.3 Independent verificationand validation 186
4.5 Stress and performance 190
4.5.1 A brieffield report ofstress 190
4.5.2 Stress andcognition 192
4.5.3 Individualtolerance to stress 193
4.5.4 Coping with stress 194
4.5.5 Concluding noteson stress 196
4.6 Creative tension 197
4.6.1 Conflict andconflictsolving strategies 200
4.6.2 Pressure andchallenge 201
4.7 Concluding Remarks 206
5 209
INTERPERSONAL ASPECTS 209
5.1 Introduction 209
5.2 Advantages of developing in groups 211
5.2.1 Tasktypologyand group performance 211
5.2.2 Group performanceandtasktypes 213
5.2.3 Complementarity ofviewpoints and experience 217
5.2.4 Classical efforts to remove barriers 219
5.2.5 Voting andimportance ofthe minority 221
5.3 Group interaction 226
5.3.1 Critical support 226