Exploring Integrative Mechanisms with a View Towards Design for Integration

Abstract

The integrated product development (IPD) paradigm has gained recognition as a preferred approach to product development. In complex system development programs, the concurrent engineering aspect of IPD is often approached through the use of integrated product teams (IPTs), each assigned to develop various components of the overall system. Many have struggled to determine the characteristics of highly effective IPTs and the circumstances in which particular perspectives should be incorporated within an IPT. However, much less research has addressed the nature and management of the relationships between IPTs—the integration of IPTs within a program. While many have lamented that coordination problems have played a large part in diminishing the performance of their overall programs, a systematic approach for considering these issues a priori in program design is lacking. This paper presupposes a familiarity with interteam integration issues and (1) describes a framework for thinking about organization integration within a program, (2) presents integrative mechanisms (IMs) useful for managing IPT interfaces, and (3) begins to develop a systematic approach for designing programs that explicitly considers integration needs, design for integration (DFI).