Stochastic differential equations (3rd ed.): an introduction with applications
Stochastic differential equations (3rd ed.): an introduction with applications
The mythical man-month (anniversary ed.)
The mythical man-month (anniversary ed.)
Optimal timing of reviews in concurrent design for manufacturability
Management Science
Communities of practice: performance and evolution
Computational & Mathematical Organization Theory
Identifying controlling features of engineering design iteration
Management Science
ICSE '93 Proceedings of the 15th international conference on Software Engineering
A model-based framework to overlap product development activities
Management Science - Special issue on frontier research in manufacturing and logistics
Critical Success Factors In Software Projects
IEEE Software
Time-Cost Trade-Offs in Overlapped Product Development
Operations Research
Parallel and Sequential Testing of Design Alternatives
Management Science
Problem-Solving Oscillations in Complex Engineering Projects
Management Science
Modularity and Innovation in Complex Systems
Management Science
Hierarchical Structure and Search in Complex Organizations
Management Science
Project dynamics and emergent complexity
Computational & Mathematical Organization Theory
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We present a dynamical model of complex cooperative projects such as large engineering design or software development efforts, comprised of concurrent and interrelated tasks. The model contains a stochastic component to account for temporal fluctuations both in task performance and in the interactions between related tasks. We show that as the system size increases, so does the average completion time. Also, for fixed system size, the dynamics of individual project realizations can exhibit large deviations from the average when fluctuations increase past a threshold, causing long delays in completion times. These effects are in agreement with empirical observation. We also show that the negative effects of both large groups and long delays caused by fluctuations may be mitigated by arranging projects in a hierarchical or modular structure. Our model is applicable to any arrangement of interdependent tasks, providing an analytical prediction for the average completion time as well as a numerical threshold for the fluctuation strength beyond which long delays are likely. In conjunction with previous modeling techniques, it thus provides managers with a predictive tool to be used in the design of a project's architecture.