The Use of Frontier Analysis for Goal Setting in Managing Engineering Design
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[1] Cranfield University
Cranfield University
Cranfield, Reino Unido
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- Localización: Journal of Engineering Design, ISSN 0954-4828, Vol. 8, Nº. 1, 1997, págs. 53-74
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
There is a strong prima-facie case for applying frontier analysis to goal setting in engineering design processes: (1) it integrates both input and output factors of performance; (2) it draws in environmental variables which would otherwise make different design tasks or design groups incapable of comparison; (3) it does not require a consensus among those affected by product designs on the relative importance of the different performance factors; (4) it provides a criterion for determining best achievable performance; (5) it yields a potential improvement gap; and (6) it shows a given design group which peers it should emulate to achieve higher levels of outcome performance. In a case study conducted in the aerospace industry, we found that most of the assumptions made by frontier analysis were in fact fulfilled in engineering design, notably the absence of consensus about the weights attached to the factors of performance. Moreover, we developed a process by which good outcome performance could be linked to effective design behaviours, and this provided a defensible way of setting goals for design tasks in organizations.
