Development of complex products and large systems is a highly interactive social process involving hundreds of people designing thousands of interrelated components and making millions of coupled decisions. Nevertheless, in the research summarized by this paper, we have created methods to study the development process, identify its underlying structures, and critique its operation. In this article, we introduce three views of product development complexity: a process view, a product view, and an organization view. We are able to learn about the complex social phenomenon of product development by studying the patterns of interaction across the decomposed elements within each view. We also compare the alignment of the interaction patterns between the product, process, and organization domains. We then propose metrics of product development complexity by studying and comparing these interaction patterns. Finally, we develop hypotheses regarding the patterns of product development interactions, which will be helpful to guide future research. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:50:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 1732.pdf: 12181332 bytes, checksum: 94848074fd123b0ddcf9ce9d5d7cdf0f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-06-29 / The present study had the objectives to present the characteristics of a complex work, to demonstrate the management of these elements in the everyday job, besides relating this management with the social use of own s body in labor. To achieve these objectives, we studied the case of the domiciliar garbage collectors (garis), in a region of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. This thesis was divided in six chapters, to corroborate the hypothesis that the art of the worker to deal with the complexity of his/her job is the element that propitiates the regulation of workload. Therefore, this regulation can be limited by the personal characteristics of the workers and also for their job, introducing the notion of body economy . This thesis presented the refuse collector s job, the term regulation was differentiated from the term body economy , and some aspects of a complex work were described. The methodology of the Ergonomic Work Analysis (EWA) and some of its techniques were used to get the data. Some of the corporal techniques employed by the refuse collectors in their work were presented and analyzed, according to the complexity of their daily work. The management of the various characteristics of refuse domiciliary refuse collection was demonstrated and, in the thesis discussion was related to body economy . The notion of body economy was deepened, demonstrating the characteristics of the work that make it possible or difficultate the regulation of the workload. Finally, questions for new researches have been raised, and suggested some ergonomics recommendations to improve the conditions of the collectors work. We suggest to the professionals who auto-intitulate ergonomists , should understand the reality of subjects work, before prescribing postures and movements that they consider correct or ideal / O presente estudo teve os objetivos de apresentar as características de um trabalho complexo, demonstrar a gestão de tais elementos no cotidiano do trabalho, e relacionar esta gestão com o uso social que se faz do corpo em trabalho. Para isso, estudou-se o caso dos coletores de lixo domiciliar (garis), em uma região da cidade de Belo Horizonte. Esta tese foi dividida em seis capítulos, a fim de corroborar a hipótese de que a arte do trabalhador para lidar com a complexidade de seu trabalho é o elemento que propicia a regulação da sua carga de trabalho. Entretanto, esta regulação pode ser limitada pelas características dos próprios trabalhadores e também de seu trabalho, o que introduz a noção de economia do corpo . Nesta tese apresentou-se o trabalho dos garis, o termo regulação foi diferenciado do termo economia do corpo , e foram descritos certos aspectos de um trabalho complexo. A metodologia da Análise Ergonômica do Trabalho (AET) e algumas de suas técnicas foram utilizadas na coleta de dados. Algumas das técnicas corporais empregadas pelos garis no trabalho foram apresentadas e analisadas conforme a complexidade de seu cotidiano. A gestão das diversas variabilidades características do trabalho de coleta de lixo domiciliar foi demonstrada e, na Discussão da tese, foi relacionada à economia do corpo. A noção de economia do corpo foi aprofundada, demonstrando as características do trabalho que possibilitam ou dificultam a regulação da carga de trabalho. Por fim, foram levantadas questões para novas pesquisas, e sugeridas algumas recomendações ergonômicas para melhorar as condições de trabalho dos garis. Sugere-se aos profissionais que se dizem ergonomistas, procurarem compreender a realidade do trabalho dos sujeitos, antes de prescreverem posturas e movimentos que consideram corretos ou ideais

This article is a brief introduction to complexity, complex thinking and complexitymanagement. Its purpose is to present an update on the applications of the complexitysciences particularly to the universe of corporations and management. It includes anexample taken from the globalized world and two more stories from the corporateenvironment. Some details on how to think about complexity and how to apply theconceptual and operative tools of complex thinking are provided. The article ends withsome remarks on personal, interpersonal and corporate benefits of the complexthinking.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / The CyberCIEGE project seeks to create an alternative to traditional Information Assurance (IA) training and education approaches by developing an interactive, entertaining commercial-grade PC-based computer game/virtual laboratory. CyberCIEGE will provide a robust, flexible and extensible gaming environment where each instance of the game is based on a fully customizable scenario. These scenarios are written in the CyberCIEGE Scenario Definition Language. Unfortunately, the trade-off for flexibility, extensibility and fully customizable scenarios is syntax complexity in the scenario definition language. This thesis will solve this real world problem by showing that the complexity of scenario definition language syntax can be managed through a software tool. This thesis will develop such a tool and further demonstrate that progress can be made toward automating scenario generation. / Civilian, Federal Cyber Service Corps, Naval Postgraduate School

Complexity is the paradigm of the 21st century and has been discussed in several fields of research. During the last years, increasing complexity in manufacturing companies has been one of the biggest issues in science and practice. Companies in high-technology marketplaces are confronted with technology innovations, dynamic environmental conditions, changing customer requirements, globalization of markets and competitions, as well as market uncertainty, inducing an increasing amount of complexity. Manufacturing companies cannot escape these trends. In today’s highly competitive environment, it is fundamental for company’s success to develop and launch new products quickly and with customer’s individual settings to the market. The companies cope with these trends by developing new product variants, which lead to an increased complexity in the company and in product development. Complexity is influenced by internal and external sources of complexity, so-called complexity drivers. Complexity drivers have an influence on companies and the total value chain. Managing a system’s complexity requires an optimum fit between internal and external complexity. Identifying, analyzing and understanding complexity drivers is the first step for complexity management’s development and implementation. For managing and optimizing company’s complexity, a vast number of different single approaches is applied for different purposes. Complexity management is a strategic issue for companies to be competitive. The main important strategies for single approaches’ application are complexity reduction, mastering and avoidance. Complexity management requires approaches for complexity’s understanding, simplification, transformation and evaluation. A successful complexity management approach enables a balance between external market’s complexity and internal company’s complexity. The purpose of this dissertation is to close existing gaps in scientific literature by providing a complexity management in variant-rich product development. Therefor, a systematic literature review was performed regarding the issues ‘complexity drivers in manufacturing companies and along the value chain and their effects on company’s complexity’, ‘application of specific single approaches and their targeted strategy’, as well as ‘approaches for complexity management and especially for resource planning’. An empirical research was conducted to document the current state in the German manufacturing industry regarding the issues ‘complexity drivers in product development and their effects on company’s complexity’ and ‘application of specific single approaches for complexity management’. The empirical data was collected through questionnaires between 2015 and 2016. The empirical findings are compared with literature to identify commonalities and differences. Based on literature’s results, a new general approach for managing complexity in variant-rich product development was developed to bring the relevant steps for complexity handling in a sequence. In this approach, complexity in product development is systematically analyzed and evaluated to create conditions for target-oriented managing and controlling of complexity. Furthermore, the general complexity management approach is modified and structurally optimized to establish a target-oriented approach for resource planning in variant-rich product development. The new approaches are applied in the automotive industry to verify the results and approach’s applicability.