| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/R12640/01 |
| Title: |
Pointer (Product Development Improvement Through Informal Network Organisation) |
| Principal Investigator: |
Brookes, Professor N |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Department: |
Manufacturing Engineering |
| Organisation: |
Loughborough University |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 May 2001 |
Ends: |
30 September 2001 |
Value (£): |
88,586
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Manufact. Business Strategy |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Aerospace, Defence and Marine |
No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Existing research has indicated that the informal organisation is as impactive as the formal organisation on product development performance. A key question, therefore, is whether these informal networks can be manipulated or exploited to improve product development success. The POINTER project will investigate this issue using the following steps: -1) The project will create a prototype mechanism for manipulating informal networks. The mechanism will have three stages: the mapping of existing networks using SNA mapping techniques; the comparison of the informal and formal organisation; and the highlighting of ways to manipulate the network. Exploitation of the network will be achieved by the manipulation of the task, boundary or individual. The use of software tools to model informal networks will be investigated.2) The project will use an action-research approach to evaluating the feasibility of the informal network with collaborators. A series of case-study applications of the mechanism will be undertaken. The impact of the manipulation of the informal network on product development performance for the collaborators will be evaluated and the wider implications of these findings considered.3) On the basis of the results from its trial use, the mechanism will be amended and embedded in a final version which can be readily disseminated and exploited.By using this approach the POINTER project will not only be able to investigate the feasibility of manipulating informal organisational networks to improve product development performance but will also provide the wider industrial and academic community with a tool to test this hypothesis further.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.lboro.ac.uk |