Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rice University, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-134).

Zugl.: Mainz, Univ., Diss., 2006. / Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D. in Computer Science)--Vanderbilt University, Dec. 2005. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-93) Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-146). Also available in electronic version.

Universiẗat, Diss., 1998--Mannheim.

This research builds on three projects that aim to investigate how knowledge transfer takes place in new product development in the automotive industry. The study seeks to picture how product development teams frame and shape new product knowledge, how they interpret such knowledge, and how they apply knowledge to the product development process. From that perspective, product development activities can be seen as transactions that are integrated into an overall system of identifying, assessing, collecting and combining knowledge. Results of my research so far reveal that there are many factors that affect the successful management of knowledge transfer in new product development projects. Based on my first two projects, using the case study approach, it is evident that for successful knowledge transfer to occur, there is a need to distinguish between design knowledge that is embedded in the tacit knowledge domain and that embedded in the or explicit design knowledge domain. The results of project three, using a survey questionnaire approach, provide a powerful demonstration, that knowledge integration, combination and creation in product development need intensive interaction and collaboration. The enormous importance of interaction and collaboration to integrate and combine knowledge has its origin in the nature of design knowledge. For example engineers produced in the survey a 82 % rate of agreement with the statement that they use mainly knowledge that comes from their past work experience as product developers, in order to solve complex design tasks. The underlying assumption of this finding is, that engineers are therefore mostly forced to transfer tacit design knowledge to solve complex design tasks. The research showed that a remarkable under-performance exists in knowledge identification and knowledge articulation in new product development in the automotive industry. In vehicle development, non-routine tasks are highly complex. This requires team members to have an understanding of the complete product system architecture. To create such an understanding, engineers need to identify and articulate knowledge. These activities can be seen as a pre-knowledge creation. The result is a shared product knowledge base, which makes it possible for people engaged in the vehicle development process to use different kinds of knowledge to capture and link new technologies into innovative products. This may require a cultural shift by vehicle manufacturers in terms of how they steer and allocate resources to future vehicle development programmes. Building on four years engagement with knowledge transfer research, I conclude that organisations in the automotive sector still rely on methods and processes that were successful in the past and strictly directed at exploiting tangible assets. To integrate preknowledge creation, as a new found discipline in product development projects creates an enormous potential to integrate and combine knowledge in an efficient way for future product development projects.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Keith Harris / The focus of this research is to create a production schedule that will increase capacity while staying within business constraints of shelf life and warehouse space in a industrial food processing environment. The results support that product wheels maximize process responsiveness by lengthening production runs, and increasing safety stock inventory. In doing so, it maintains acceptable customer service levels and minimizes overtime costs. This study develops a model that simulates the relevant variables impacting the performance of the operation. The results show significant cost reductions are achieved by eliminating changeovers, increasing line capacity, safety stock levels protect against 99% of order variation, and warehouse space is available to house increased cycle stock and safety stock. Given the results on this line, I recommend expanding the model to other food processing locations within the business to further increase capacity and decrease overtime expenses.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Kevin Gwinner / Companies must weigh the trade-offs of support strategies and choose between the effectiveness of meeting customer expectations and the cost of implementing product support tools and services. These support strategies can be critical to the success of a company and therefore, must provide efficient problem resolution in order to meet the satisfaction of the customer and retailer. This thesis reviews survey data collected from a large agricultural equipment company’s retailers on their satisfaction of product support tools and services provided by the company, and how the retailers utilize these product support tools and services when attempting to resolve a product issue. This evaluation of a company’s product support strategy leads to the identification of potential solutions to help maximize the efficiency of the problem resolution process, as well as minimize the opportunity costs and financial costs of product support sources.

In the current transport landscape, where chronic problems such as congestion, insufficient parking spaces and air pollution beset urban areas, car sharing has been suggested as an alternative to mitigate these issues. With the emergence and growing popularity of the sharing economy, a shifting perception towards car ownership has paved the way towards rapid growth in shared mobility. The car club – or car sharing – as a service, enables people to go without their own car, yet use one when they need to. This flexible transport option has grown rapidly in many metropolises around the world. In London, it is forecast that the total number of round-trips car club memberships will increase from 137,000 in 2013 to approximately 264,000 by 2020 (Frost & Sullivan, 2014). As car sharing’s popularity rises, it is critical to better understand car club users with their varied lifestyles and mindsets. Therefore, this research focuses on obtaining an in-depth understanding of car club users and exploring more deeply the role of the car club from the users’ perspective. Three key questions were asked: 1. What are the users’ perspectives towards existing car clubs? 2. What are their key suggestions as to how to improve the car club model? 3. What are the critical aspects of the proposed car club model, from the users’ perspective? The research adopts a multidisciplinary approach, with further contextual research and expert interviews with service designers in order to evaluate the role service design might play in enticing more people to consider the use of such mobility services in the future. The ultimate aim of this research is to provide a set of mobility service guidelines designed to enhance the overall level of user experience for car clubs. Advancing the operating models of car clubs should help existing operators fulfil their role as a more adaptable and reliable alternative transport mode in urban areas. The research outcome is expected to contribute to current car club operators’ future plans and provide guidance for vehicle OEMs when developing their own mobility models in the future.