The dynamics of interruptions in engineering project task execution

Abstract

The performance of engineering project organizations can be characterized generally by the organization's ability to deliver projects "on time", "under budget" and "right the first time". In industries where demand is very unpredictable it is not uncommon for organizations to operate with very "lean" project engineering staffs. Members of those engineering staffs are in very high demand by many other groups within the organization, leading to frequent interruptions. These interruptions can have significant impacts on productivity. Moreover, the productivity impacts often lead to degrading project cost and schedule performance, increased workload and stress, more mistakes, and ultimately contribute to the compromise of business cash flow and profit performance. Because of the dynamic complexity of the project task execution process and its relationship to the larger business goals, it is difficult to understand the real impacts of interruptions and devise effective policies to prevent the impacts from affecting performance adversely. Policies which appear to make sense in the short term may have long term repercussions that are not intuitive. Ultimately, the engineering staff and resource management leadership becomes the target of significant criticism. This thesis provides an overview of the dynamic impacts of interruptions on engineering project task execution processes, and identifies system structures, policies, and behaviors that may contribute to the chronic inability of engineering organizations to deliver results "on time", "under budget" and "right the first time". A specific organization in the defense industry was selected for the contextual basis of this research.

(cont.) Interviews with stakeholders of the project execution process were conducted extensively. Major themes identified in the interview process were used, in conjunction with social network analysis techniques to provide guidance for development of a formal system dynamics model. Model simulation results are presented, with insights into the effects of interruptions on the larger business operations, as well as suggestions for further work.