INTERDEPARTMENTAL INTERDEPENDENCE AND COORDINATION - THE CASE OF THE DESIGN/MANUFACTURING INTERFACE

The popular business press has been awash with articles and books about new forms of organization which highlight cross-functional, adaptive, learning, time-based competitive capabilities. However, academic research on understanding the various dimensions of these new forms of organization is not very far along. For industrial companies, a crucial nexus for achieving adaptivity and minimizing cycle time involves the relationship between product design and manufacturing. This paper develops a taxonomy and framework for understanding the issues involved in coordination between these departments under conditions of uncertainty and equivocality subject to time constraints on projects.