Towards a Learning Process for Ad hoc Engineering Change Teams

Abstract: Engineering changes disrupt plans, can affect technical solutions negatively, and put project organisations under strain. However, engineering changes are a crucial part of the design process and a prerequisite in adapting to a dynamic project environment.Prior research has suggested the efficacy of the pre-emptive actions of reducing the number of, and front-loading, changes. However, pre-emptive measures to stop engineering changes from materialising are difficult to achieve if there are shortcomings in the project processes. Even with formal processes in place, they often fall by the wayside when changes occur, replaced by ad hoc practices. In such cases, when a change is raised, an ad hoc team of practitioners is formed to manage it. In the informal handling of the change that follows, practitioners tend to focus on risk aversion rather than weighing risks against the opportunities.To improve the performance of ad hoc teams in managing engineering changes, an organisational-learning approach has been developed. This research is based on the fields of both project- and engineering-change management and applies a multiple case study design with cases from product development and engineering-type projects. Research results are based on data from over 40 interviews with project managers and engineers as well as over 100 change requests, the contents of which were analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The research methodologies both of soft systems and projects-as-practice were used to analyse results from qualitative data.This research further develops the concept of ad hoc teams in the context of engineering design, thus contributing to the field of strategic guidelines and organisational issues regarding engineering-change management. The strength of the suggested process lies in its capture both of the specific and the practical. It is specific in the sense that it focuses on issues related to emergent changes and its sibling initiated changes to raise awareness of their differences and how they relate to possible opportunities within changes. It is practical in that it acknowledges the importance of an active line-management organisation that supports project planning, execution, and development to sustain a culture of learning as it relates to the engineering-change management process, pre-, in- and post-change. Through a systems view, the process also incorporates change types and the concept of change carriers. Finally, the suggested process includes practical management guidelines for emergent changes and initiated changes. To that end, this research specifies a workshop structure to heighten practitioners’ awareness of their practices and praxis in handling engineering changes.