| 研究実績の概要 |
Due to the delayed research schedule, there are no significant research achivements to report. What can be concluded after the extended literature review for this project is the following:
1. Project management in the automotive industry is overwhelmingly studied from the perspective of carmakers, not suppliers. While supplier involvement is a frequent topic, the question what suppliers learn and how they use this information in product development is rarely addressed.
2. Regarding themes in the literature, two basic techniques, i.e. concurrent engineering (Clark/Fujimoto 1991) and front-loading (Thomke/Fujimoto 2000), are reiterated by a large number of case studies on carmakers. While this suggests that both techniques are effective, novelty is limited. An emerging topic is frugal innovation, i.e. the question is routines such as the reliance on engineering procedures manuals can be challenged to develop products for developing markets (Midler et al. 2017). While this topic is important, it lies outside the scope of this research project.
3. While it may be said that there are four generic types of product development (Wheelright/Clark 1992), only one type is commonly found in reviewed literature, namely cross-functional teams.
Initial interviews suggest that suppliers organise information on product requirements from all customers to map current and future requirements. Thus, aggregated information is used to develop a "base product" that is customised for each customer (carmaker). It may be stated that suppliers develop adaptable platform products.
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| 現在までの達成度 (区分) |
現在までの達成度 (区分)
4: 遅れている
理由
The originally proposed survey cannot be conducted due to rejection from intended partners (JAPIA and VDA).
Therefore, it was decided to switch to comparative case study that analyses German and Japanese suppliers which produce similar components. Interviews had been scheduled with several firms for March 2020, but due to the corona virus situation, all but one interview was cancelled. While firms indicated that interviews may be scheduled for a time after the current health crisis, interviews and analysis will be significantly delayed.
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| 今後の研究の推進方策 |
It is planned to continue interviews for a comparative analysis of German and Japanese suppliers' project management. More interviews should help to identify if there are significant differences between project management routines due to firms country of origin, products and related development processes, and size.
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