Socio-technical product creation : an exploratory study concerning the improvement of the cooperation of professionals in the product creation process

The environment of industrial enterprises has changed the way managers think about productivity and innovation. To be an innovative firm is the challenge for the nineties. Of course, the organisation of the product creation is high on the research agenda. Recent literature is showing several attempts to integrate the work of professionals. Managers are increasingly willing to invest in Integral Organisational Renewal of the firm. Boasting on a long research tradition, Socio-Technical Systems Design (STSD) can support this renewal process. This paper explores the theoretical and practical possibilities of a new flow-oriented organisation of the whole chain of the primary process, integrating product-development processes with each other and with marketing, engineering, production and purchase. This paper presents some empirical results of a study of product-creation processes in five international operating Dutch companies. A qualitative analysis of the interview results indicate that the internal organisation of the product-creation trajectory will change over the next decade. According to our respondents, professionals of different disciplines already work together in project teams. They expressed that more emphasis must be placed on integrating different perspectives in mutual understanding, while sharing jointly responsibility for planning and decision making. This paper also present some illustrations of an in-depth analysis of the product-creation function in a particular high-tech company. As will be discussed, the STSD paradigm can offer some clues for redesigning the product-creation process. This paper concludes with an action research agenda.