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System Dynamics (ID)

The history of management practice is full of process improvement innovations—job enrichment, quality circles, and total quality management (TQM), to name only a few.

Why do these innovations succeed in some organizations but fail in others?

Many companies fail in process improvement attempts, even when participants welcome the new tools and methods.

Our ID initiative has sought to understand the dynamics of PD process improvement and the design of sustainable improvement programs.

Initiative Leader:
Dr. Nelson Repenning
Associate Professor of Management
Sloan School of Management

Video of Nelson Repenning		 Nelson Repenning
Key Research Papers:

Understanding Fire Fighting in New Product Development

"Nobody Ever Gets Credit for Fixing Problems That Never Happened: Creating and Sustaining Process Improvement"

A Simulation-Based Approach to Understanding the Dynamics of Innovation Implementation

Drive Out Fear (Unless You Can Drive It In)

 
Results
Working with Ford and Harley-Davidson, we have conducted intensive case studies of successful and failed process improvement initiatives. These analyses have provided the basis for formal improvement models.

Our robust strategies have helped to eliminate the unanticipated side effects that routinely delay development. Our management “flight simulators” and learning labs have helped communicate these strategies to front-line managers and workers.

Research Faculty
Nelson Repenning
Initiative Leader
Robert N. Noyce Engineering Career Development Associate Professor
Sloan School of Management