| Abstract: | Based on a survey of 103 electronic component manufacturers in the U.S. using concurrent engineering, a theoretically based interdisciplinary quantitative predictive model was developed. In each company, data were collected from the manager of the concurrent engineering effort, the team leader, and the design, manufacturing, and marketing team members. The results from this 403-item response in each company indicate that the measures are reliable. The proposed model, which continues building on one originally proposed by Majchrzak, is presented and the organizational and human variables are shown to account for 50% of the variance. Proximity of team members is confirmed as a key to success. Future research directions are suggested in light of the tendency toward a more global economy, global manufacturing, and geographically distributed teams. The results of the present study suggest that the keys to success in the future will again go beyond the technical and into the human, organizational, and social aspects. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |
