Impacts of Project-Overload on Innovation inside Organizations: Agent-Based Modeling
Market competition and a desire to gain advantages on globalized market, drives companies towards innovation efforts. Project overload is an unpleasant phenomenon, which is happening for employees inside those organizations trying to make the most efficient use of their resources to be innovative. But what are the impacts of project overload on organization-s innovation capabilities? Advanced engineering teams (AE) inside a major heavy equipment manufacturer are suffering from project overload in their quest for innovation. In this paper, Agent-based modeling (ABM) is used to examine the current reality of the company context, and of the AE team, where the opportunities and challenges for reducing the risk of project overload and moving towards innovation were identified. Project overload is more likely to stifle innovation and creativity inside teams. On the other hand, motivations on proper challenging goals are more likely to help individual to alleviate the negative aspects of low level of project overload.
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ISBN 0-471-49691-X Y. Yorozu, M. Hirano, K. Oka, and Y. Tagawa,
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Innovation. | ISBN-10: 0195304454 | Edition: 1
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individual creativity and team creativity: aggregating across people and
time. Journal of Organizational Behavior J. Organiz. Behav. 25, 235-
257, DOI: 10.1002/job.240, Copyright ┬®John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. S.
Chen, B. Mulgrew, and P. M. Grant, "A clustering technique for digital
communications channel equalization using radial basis function
networks," IEEE Trans. Neural Networks, vol. 4, pp. 570-578, July
1993.
[10] Ram Nidumolu, C.K. Prahalad, M.R. Rangaswami.2009. Why
Sustainability Is Now the Key Driver of Innovation. Harvard Business
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compatibility of adaptive controllers (Published Conference Proceedings
style)," in Proc. 4th Annu. Allerton Conf. Circuits and Systems Theory,
New York, 1994, pp. 8-16.
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Conference, Shanghai, China , ISBN: 978-1-935068-50-1
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Models in Social Science. Mind & Society,Vol. 1, pp. 57-72 9 ,
Fondazione Rosselli, Rosenberg & Sellier
[14] Rosanna Garcia.2005. Uses of Agent-Based Modelling in
Innovation/New Product Development Research. J PROD INNOV
MANAG 2005;22:380-398 Product Development & Management
Association
[1] Shahid Yusuf.2007. From creativity to innovation. World Bank Policy
Research Working Paper 4262, WPS4262
[2] Teresa Amabile.1998. How to kill creativity. Harvard Business Review
article, Prod. #: 98501-PDF-ENG
[3] Goran Ekvall .1996.Organizational climate for creativity and innovation.
F.A. Institute, and University of Lund, Stockholm ,Sweden, European
journal of work and organizational psychology,5(1),105-123
[4] Nathan Rosenberg.2004. Innovation and economic growth. Professor of
Economics (Emeritus), Stanford University, ┬® OECD
[5] Marja Klijn, Welko Tomic.2010. A review of creativity within
organizations from a psychological perspective. Journal of Management
Development, Vol. 29 Iss: 4, pp.322 - 343, ISSN: 0262-1711
[6] Annika Zika-Viktorsson, Per Sundström, Mats Engwall.2006. Project
overload: An exploratory study of work and management in multiproject
settings , International Journal of Project Management,Volume
24, Issue 5, Pages 385-394
[7] Michael Wooldridge.1996.An Introduction to Multi-Agent Systems.
ISBN 0-471-49691-X Y. Yorozu, M. Hirano, K. Oka, and Y. Tagawa,
"Electron spectroscopy studies on magneto-optical media and plastic
substrate interfaces (Translation Journals style)," IEEE Transl. J.
Magn.Jpn., vol. 2, Aug. 1987, pp. 740-741 (Dig. 9th Annu. Conf.
Magnetics Japan, 1982, p. 301).
[8] R. Keith Sawyer.2006. Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human
Innovation. | ISBN-10: 0195304454 | Edition: 1
[9] Andrew Pirola-Merlo, And Leon Mann.2004. The relationship between
individual creativity and team creativity: aggregating across people and
time. Journal of Organizational Behavior J. Organiz. Behav. 25, 235-
257, DOI: 10.1002/job.240, Copyright ┬®John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. S.
Chen, B. Mulgrew, and P. M. Grant, "A clustering technique for digital
communications channel equalization using radial basis function
networks," IEEE Trans. Neural Networks, vol. 4, pp. 570-578, July
1993.
[10] Ram Nidumolu, C.K. Prahalad, M.R. Rangaswami.2009. Why
Sustainability Is Now the Key Driver of Innovation. Harvard Business
Review, 11 pages. Prod. #: R0909E-PDF-ENG S. P. Bingulac, "On the
compatibility of adaptive controllers (Published Conference Proceedings
style)," in Proc. 4th Annu. Allerton Conf. Circuits and Systems Theory,
New York, 1994, pp. 8-16.
[11] Xiao-jun Li and Si-jun Bai.2010. Misunderstandings and Solutions of
Multi-Project Management. The Ninth China Project Management
Conference, Shanghai, China , ISBN: 978-1-935068-50-1
[12] Joshua M.Epstein.2007. Generative Social Science. studies in agentbased
computational modeling, Princeton University Press Prince and
Oxford, H61.3.E67 2007. 300.1-13-dc22
[13] Nigel Gilbert, Pietro Terna.2000. How to Build and Use Agent-Based
Models in Social Science. Mind & Society,Vol. 1, pp. 57-72 9 ,
Fondazione Rosselli, Rosenberg & Sellier
[14] Rosanna Garcia.2005. Uses of Agent-Based Modelling in
Innovation/New Product Development Research. J PROD INNOV
MANAG 2005;22:380-398 Product Development & Management
Association
@article{"International Journal of Business, Human and Social Sciences:49473", author = "Farnaz Motamediyan Dehkordi and Anthony Thompson and Tobias Larsson", title = "Impacts of Project-Overload on Innovation inside Organizations: Agent-Based Modeling", abstract = "Market competition and a desire to gain advantages on globalized market, drives companies towards innovation efforts. Project overload is an unpleasant phenomenon, which is happening for employees inside those organizations trying to make the most efficient use of their resources to be innovative. But what are the impacts of project overload on organization-s innovation capabilities? Advanced engineering teams (AE) inside a major heavy equipment manufacturer are suffering from project overload in their quest for innovation. In this paper, Agent-based modeling (ABM) is used to examine the current reality of the company context, and of the AE team, where the opportunities and challenges for reducing the risk of project overload and moving towards innovation were identified. Project overload is more likely to stifle innovation and creativity inside teams. On the other hand, motivations on proper challenging goals are more likely to help individual to alleviate the negative aspects of low level of project overload.
", keywords = "Innovation, Creativity, Project overload, Agentbased
modelling.", volume = "6", number = "11", pages = "2755-6", }
