| Summary: | Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2004. === Includes bibliographical references (p. 152-153). === All firms in any mature product development industry are being pressured into performing 'better, faster, and cheaper' by both customers and competitors. In short, firms are being tasked with doing more, with less, faster. This leads to product development organizations being unrealistically tasked to deliver on these programs that often lead to projects falling behind schedule, over budget, and with inadequate quality. While striving to do the right actions to survive, the management of these firms may be leading their firms to disaster through over commitment, and short-term management actions to address the quality, budget, and schedule shortfalls. An understanding of the system dynamics associated with the program management of new product development (NPD) programs is essential to reversing this trend. Several corporations are instituting system dynamics in their management and executive training curricula to affect correct policies, procedures, and behaviors that lead to success. However, because the correct policies, procedures, and behaviors as revealed by system dynamics analysis are counter-intuitive and opposite those policies currently employed in program management, a method is needed to drive the learning of system dynamics so that it becomes ingrained in the program management thought processes. A management flight simulator (MFS) of the program management of a new product development project based on system dynamics provides the hands on experience that managers can learn the consequences of non systems-thinking policies on project performance and how system dynamics based policies can lead to greater success. This thesis provides an overview of the system dynamics of project management in new product development and insight into the === (cont.) correct policies, procedures, and behaviors that lead to success. Research on the role of MFSs in driving the learning of system dynamics principles is explored. A single-phase system dynamics model for a new product development program and a MFS is developed to teach the fundamental lessons of system dynamics applied to product development project management and is to be incorporated in the BP Project Academy. Insight from my own experiences in product development is incorporated in this MFS as well as in recommendations for further development. === by Daniel V. MacInnis. === S.M.
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