Mechanical Engineering and Commerce students were teamed up with the task of developing a new product, using a patented technology provided by a corporate sponsor. The context in which students worked resembled a real business setting as the tasks to be performed were similar to those of a cross-functional team responsible for the design of a new product or of an entrepreneurial team involved in a high-technology start-up. Students rated the experience as very positive: it represented an opportunity to get a taste of the ‘real world’ and learn about both new product development and the venture start-up process. The corporate sponsor also benefited from the project as it revealed a new commercial application for the company's patented technology.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
GoodWalter S., Building a Dream: A Comprehensive Guide to Starting a Business on Your Own, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, Ryerson, Toronto, 1993.
2.
GabrieleGary A.MyraboLeik N.PegnaJosephSneckHenry J.SwerseyBurt L., ‘The use of reverse engineering projects in a mechanical engineering senior design course: Innovations in mechanical engineering curricula for the 1990s’, Proceedings of the 1994 ASME, Knoxville, TN, 1994, pp 1–6.
3.
PegnaJoseph, ‘Computer aided design detailing, dimensioning, and geometric tolerancing: Teaching tolerances through reverse engineering’, Proceedings of the ASME 1995 International Mechanical Engineering Conference and Exhibition, San Francisco, CA, 1995.
4.
PegnaJosephFortinClementMayerRene, ‘Teaching tolerances: A comparison between the conventional and reverse engineering approaches’, CIRP Computer Aided Tolerancing Symposium, Toronto, 1997.
5.
UlrichKarl T.EppingerStephen D., Product Design and Development, 2nd ed, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1995.
6.
GriffinAbbieHauserJohn R., ‘Integrating R&D and marketing: A review and analysis of the literature’, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Vol 13, 1996, pp 191–215.
7.
JassawallaAvan R.SashittalHemant C., ‘Building collaborative cross-functional new product teams’, The Academy of Management Executive, Vol 13, No 3, 1999, pp 50–63.
8.
SehtiRajesh, ‘New product quality and product development teams’, Journal of Marketing, Vol 65, No 2, 2000, pp 1–14.
9.
ClarkKim B.FujimotoTakahiro, Product Development Performance: Strategy, Organization, and Management in the World Auto Industry, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA, 1991.
10.
GartnerWilliam B.ShaverKelly G.GatewoodElizabethKatzJerome A., ‘Finding the entrepreneur in entrepreneurship’, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Vol 18, No 3, 1994, pp 5–10.
11.
KammJudith B.ShumanJeffrey C.SeegerJohn A.NurickAaron J., ‘Entrepreneurial teams in new venture creation: A research agenda’, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Vol 14, No 4, 1990, pp 7–17.
12.
LunsfordDale A.HenshawJohn M., ‘Designing interdisciplinary courses’, New Directions for Teaching and Learning, Vol 58, 1994, pp 35–50.
13.
WildeDouglass J., ‘Using student preference to guide design team composition’, ASME Transactions (Design Engineering Technical Conference Proceedings), 1997, Paper DETC/DTM-3980.
14.
MyersIsabel B.McCauleyM. H., Manual: A Guide to the Development and Use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, 2nd ed, Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto, CA, 1985.
15.
Ibid.
16.
MichaelsenLarry K.BlackR. H., ‘Building learning teams: The key to harnessing small groups in higher education’, Collaborative Learning: A Sourcebook for Higher Education, Vol 2, 1994.
17.
WildeDouglass J., ‘Design team roles’, Proceedings of the 1999 ASME Design Engineering Conference, Las Vegas, NV, 1999, Paper DETC99/DTM-8774.
18.
JehnKaren A.ChadwickClintThatcherSherry, ‘To agree or not to agree: Diversity, conflict, and group outcomes’, International Journal of Conflict Management, Vol 8, 1997, pp 287–306.
19.
BrownShonaEisenhardtKathleen M., ‘Product development: Past research, present findings, and future directions’, Academy of Management Review, Vol 20, No 2, 1995, pp 343–378.
20.
TjosvoldDean, ‘Cooperative and competitive dynamics within and between organizational units’, Human Relations, Vol 41, No 6, 1988, pp 425–436.
21.
JehnKaren A.NorthcraftGregory B.NealeMargaret A., ‘Why differences make a difference: A field study of diversity, conflict, and performance in workgroups’, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol 44, No 4, 1999, pp 741–763.
22.
NorthcraftGregory B.KramerRoderik M.PolzerJeffrey T.NealeMargaret A., ‘Diversity, social identity, and performance: Emergent social dynamics in cross-functional teams’, in JacksonS. E.RudermanM. N., ed, Diversity in Work Teams: Research Paradigms for a Changing Workplace, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, 1996.
23.
JassawallaAvan R.SashittalHemant C., ‘Building collaborative cross-functional new product teams’, The Academy of Management Executive, Vol 13, No 3, 1999, pp 50–63.
24.
KahnKenneth B., ‘Interdepartmental integration: A definition with implications for product development performance’, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Vol 13, 1996, pp 137–151.
25.
SehtiRajesh, ‘New product quality and product development teams’, Journal of Marketing, Vol 65, No 2, 2000, pp 1–14.
26.
SouderWilliam E., ‘Managing relations between R&D and marketing in new product development projects’, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Vol 5, 1988, pp 6–19.
27.
JassawallaAvan R.SashittalHemant C., ‘Building collaborative cross-functional new product teams’, The Academy of Management Executive, Vol 13, No 3, 1999, pp 50–63.
28.
KahnKenneth B., ‘Interdepartmental integration: A definition with implications for product development performance’, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Vol 13, 1996, pp 137–151.
29.
AnconaDeborah G.CaldwellDavid F., ‘Demography and design: Predictors of new product team performance’, Organization Science, Vol 3, 1992, pp 321–341.
30.
HittMichael A.HoskissonRobert E.NixonRobert D., ‘A mid-range theory of interfunctional integration, its antecedents and outcomes’, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, Vol 10, 1993, pp 161–185.
31.
GriffinAbbieHauserJohn R., ‘Integrating R&D and marketing: A review and analysis of the literature’, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Vol 13, 1996, pp 191–215.
32.
HittMichael A.NixonRobert D.HoskissonRobert E.KochharRahul, ‘Corporate entrepreneurship and cross-functional fertilization: Activation, process and disintegration of a new product design team’, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Vol 23, No 3, 1999, pp 145–167.
33.
LunsfordDale A.HenshawJohn M., ‘Designing interdisciplinary courses’, New Directions for Teaching and Learning, Vol 58, 1994, pp 35–50.
34.
Van der VegtGerbenBen EmansVan de VliertEvert, ‘Motivating effects of task and outcome interdependence in work teams’, Group & Organization Management, Vol 23, No 2, 1998, pp 124–143.
35.
JohnsonDavid W.JohnsonRoger T., Cooperation and Competition: Theory and Research, Interaction Book Co, Edina, MN, 1989.
36.
WagemanRuth, ‘Interdependence and group effectiveness’, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol 40, No 1, 1995, pp 145–180.
37.
op cit, Ref 18.
38.
op cit, Ref 22.
39.
GersickConnie, ‘Marking time: Predictable transitions in task groups’, Academy of Management Journal, Vol 32, No 2, 1989, pp 274–309.
40.
op cit, Ref 28.
41.
DeMatteoJacquelyn S.EbyLillian T.SundstromEric, ‘Team-based rewards: Current empirical evidence and directions for future research’, Research in Organizational Behavior, Vol 20, 1998, pp 141–183.
42.
WagemanRuth, ‘Interdependence and group effectiveness’, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol 40, No 1, 1995, pp 145–180.
43.
WagemanRuthBakerGeorge, ‘Incentives and cooperation: The joint effects of task and reward interdependence on group performance’, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol 18, 1997, pp 139–158.
44.
WagemanRuth, ‘Interdependence and group effectiveness’, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol 40, No 1, 1995, pp 145–180.
