Predicting Technical Communication in Global Product Development Projects Related Change Propagation
Abstract
Technical communication is a key feature in Global Product Development (GPD) project to coordinate geographically distributed change management process due to a new functionality requirement or technology. Design Structure Matrix (DSM) and Multi-Domain Matrix (MDM) models are effective approaches for predicting technical communication and change propagation, optimizing GPD organization, and reducing change complexity. This paper presents the involvement degree matrix with the notion of gain factors among distributed teams to explore the factors influencing communication frequency in GPD. Further, this paper proposes a method to measure the combined change likelihood matrix based on numerical change propagation paths order, which extends previous change propagation algorithms. Finally, an industrial example is provided to illustrate the proposed models of predicting technical communication related to product’s change. Results provide an integrated managerial insight to reflect how change propagation can impact the technical communication among team’s organization.