Background to the research project

Product development is a knowledge-intensive process characterized by the exchange of information and knowledge between the people involved in the process. While many aspects of product development have already been thoroughly researched (e.g. the use of information systems), there are not yet sufficient empirically obtained results for the influence of person-bound knowledge in the product development process. In particular, it is not known by which influencing factors the speed and quality of the process can be influenced in a controlled manner and how these influences can be used in a targeted manner in the design of product development processes.

The project as a continuation application

Within the initial DFG project "Factors influencing a knowledge transfer in the process of product development", factors influencing the speed of knowledge-intensive processes in product development were investigated. In the focus of the experimental examination of the factors "complexity", "competence" and "stickiness" a created implementation model about the duration of the knowledge transfer could be created. Results are available in the book "Knowledge transfer Speed Optimizations in Product Development Context" published by GITO. The follow-up project deepens the findings of the predecessor project and especially investigates uplifting influencing factors on the quality of the knowledge transfer result.

Research objective

The aim of the research project is to develop a general methodology for the situation-specific selection, application and evaluation of interventions to make knowledge transfer in the early phase of product generation development efficient and effective. The main influencing factors of knowledge transfer activities in product development will be investigated to find out how they affect the quality of knowledge and how these parameters can be designed in product development to positively influence the quality of transfer while maintaining the transfer speed.

Cross-project integration of the results

The aim is to translate the findings from the research project into design recommendations for product development practice and to validate them with a committee of representatives from industry and science. The final report at the end of the project will be presented at a scientific workshop. In addition, a second book publication of the peer-reviewed contributions will be published by a renowned publisher of scientific publications. The raw data of the experiments will be kept available on a suitable server beyond the end of the project.

Project partners, funding and data

The DFG-funded research project conducted by the Chair of Information Systems, Processes and Systems and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (IPEK).
Funding: 2017 - 2021