EAGER: Exploring Organizational Configuration as a Design Lever

EARLY探索性研究（EAGER）项目的目标是探索不同组织结构在复杂技术系统的研究和开发中驱动设计决策的机制。 这项研究利用了一个独特的自然实验，首次对两个功能相同的系统的数十年演变进行了直接的实证比较，这两个系统是在不同的组织结构下分别开发的。虽然重要的先前研究已经检查了技术和组织架构之间的配合，以及不同的技术架构对系统生命周期属性的影响，技术-组织“配合”如何驱动理想的设计结果的问题仍然没有得到探讨。为了回答这个问题，将收集关于描述并行开发过程的事件、行动和决策序列的丰富过程数据。这些数据包括（1）对每个关键贡献者的深入采访，（2）几乎每年撰写的提案和进度报告，（3）设计文档，（4）新闻稿和（5）捕捉关键成果的期刊文章。数据将使用过程跟踪方法进行分析，从而能够链接到驱动每个设计决策的底层机制，以及相应的技术和组织架构的上下文结构。 如果成功的话，这项工作的见解有可能是变革性的，因为它们将把组织配置描述为一个新的设计杠杆;这可以使工程组织更有效地利用研究成果，并影响他们生产的技术的结构。此外，这项工作对目前关于集中投资在技术开发和产业政策中的作用的空间政策辩论有直接影响。在这方面，应欧洲航天局（欧空局）和美国国家航空和航天局（美国航天局）行政官员的请求，已介绍了PI先前的工作。更广泛地说，在实际的设计过程中，在真实的设计组织中，实地的科学数据是设计工程科学革命的基础。这些见解可以带来创新生产力的进步，从而大大加速国家（和全球）经济。

The objective of this EArly Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) project is to explore the mechanisms through which different organizational structures drive design decisions in the research and development of complex technological systems. The study leverages a unique natural experiment that enables the first direct empirical comparison of the multi-decade evolution of two functionally identical systems, developed separately under different organizational structures. Although significant prior research has examined both the fit between technical and organizational architectures, and the implications of different technical architectures for system lifecycle properties, the question of how technical-organizational "fit" can drive desirable design outcomes remains unexplored. To answer this question, rich process data on the sequence of events, actions and decisions that describe the parallel development processes will be collected. The data includes (1) in-depth interviews with each of the key contributors, (2) proposals and progress reports written on a near annual basis, (3) design documents, (4) press releases and (5) journal articles capturing key outcomes. The data will be analyzed using a process tracing approach, enabling a link to the underlying mechanisms driving each design decision to the structure of the context of the corresponding technical and organizational architectures. If successful, the insights from this work have the potential to be transformative in that they will characterize organizational configuration as a new design lever; this could enable engineering organizations to harness research outputs more effectively and influence the structure of the technology they produce. In addition, this work has direct implications for current space policy debates on the role of centralized investment in technology development and industrial policy. In that context, prior work by the PI has been presented, at the request of executive-level officials, at both the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). More broadly, on-the-ground scientific data, on the actual design process, in real design organization, is the foundation for a revolution in the science of design engineering. These insights could yield advances in innovation productivity that will substantially accelerate the national (and global) economy.