Management of industrialization projects

Short time-to-market is a key success factor in the todays’ dynamic business environment and many companies are trying to improve their product development processes. A challenge is to develop products according to the time plan and at the same time keeping the cost low and the quality high. This study focuses on the project management within the product development process in an automotive industry. The background of this study started as a request from the research and development department at the automotive company, which led to the following questions; 1) what are the most crucial factors for project success? 2) How can these factors contribute to a more successful outcome? 3) How can project management decrease product development lead time by sharing knowledge? The research approach is a case study and the data collection consist of interviews and questioners at two companies connected to project management in product development projects. Spider charts are created from the collected data containing eleven dimensions to show similarities and differences between the project managers working within the research and development department as well as between the two companies. The main conclusions are that there is a need to allow a certain level of flexibility when managing projects, in order to more easily handle late changes. Being involved in a project from the concept phase could facilitate the product development activities later on, due to a deeper understanding regarding previous decisions. Further, knowledge sharing methods, such as databases, has to be designed to be suitable for a specific organization and user friendly which enables the users to more easily search for specific types of knowledge. Lastly, a low level on the detailed focus is shown to be another success factor, however, in some cases there is still a need of this detailed focus to solve specific problems but the details may never become a higher focus than the holistic view.

Struggles Over Legitimacy in Global Organizational Restructuring: A Rhetorical Perspective on Legitimation Strategies and Dynamics in a Shutdown Case

Critical organization scholars have focused increasing attention on industrial and organizational restructurings such as shutdown decisions. However, little is known about the rhetorical strategies used to legitimate or resist plant closures in organizational negotiations. In this article, we draw from New Rhetoric to analyze rhetorical struggles, strategies and dynamics in unfolding organizational negotiations. We focus on the shutdown of the bus body unit of the Sweden-based Volvo Bus Corporation in Finland. We distinguish five types of rhetorical legitimation strategies and dynamics. These include the three classical dynamics of logos (rational arguments), pathos (emotional moral arguments), and ethos (authority-based arguments), but also autopoiesis (autopoietic narratives), and cosmos (cosmological constructions). Our analysis contributes to previous studies on organizational restructuring by providing a more nuanced understanding of how contemporary industrial closures are legitimated and resisted in organizational negotiations. This study also increases theoretical understanding of the role of rhetoric in legitimation more generally.

National Labor Relations Board, petitioner, vs. Packard Motor Car Company, respondent : motion of Chrysler Corporation for leave to file a brief as amicus curiae and brief as amicus curiae /

Cover title.

Results of energy-loss measurements on passenger car tires operating in the free-rolling and braking/traction modes. Final report.

Transportation Systems Center, Cambridge, Mass.

Car-barrier impact response of a computer simulated Mustang. Final report.

Automobile Manufacturers Association, Detroit, Mich.

CRASH: a computer simulator of non-linear transient response of structures, basis for car crash simulation. Research report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Analysis of frontal impact test data - new car assessment project. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Results of rolling resistance measurements on twelve radial passenger car tires.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Research and Development, Washington, D.C.

Program evaluation support for the motor vehicle diagnostic inspection demonstration projects. Volume I: used car owner survey. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Sate Vehicle Programs, Washington D. C.

Sled tests of the air bag - crushable dash-kneebar passive restraint in the Volvo 244. Final technical report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Development of a motor vehicle materials historical high-volume industrial processing rates cost data bank (3500-4000 pound) full size car. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

New car assessment supplemental data - task order 4. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Accident Investigation Division, Washington, D.C.