The evolution and problems of model management research

2010

Group Decis Negot

Researchers from the Politecnico di Torino working in different fields and a start-up company from the internal incubator decided to join together in a collective project to produce an innovative light aircraft that would utilize hydrogen as fuel. Several decisions have had to be made, above all in relation to the hydrogen fuel cells that have to be used (dimensions, number, supplier,...) and to the electric propulsion engine that has to be combined with the cells as there was no engine on the market with the adequate characteristics. The consequences of these decisions (and of others, in relation to the electronic devices and the automatic control systems), in terms of times, costs and risks, have had to be analysed in the project context, where units with different expertise and language were involved. The paper proposes a methodological approach to identify and face uncertainties and complexities pertaining to this multiunit project through a shared vision of the problems and a structured and evolving problem formulation that has been developed to support communication, coordination and decision-making. It explains how some tools have been integrated in this application and used to elaborate and represent alternative decisions, to collectively evaluate and choose and to create a communication space for the project.

Section: The Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

An Application of MACRAME to Support Communication and Decisions in a Multi-Unit Project

2010

Group Decis Negot

“…A specific application of the model management function (Norese & Sarboraria, 1998) was used by analysts to develop a model management system (Baldwin et al, 1991), that is, a decision support system that can change the model structure or modify parameters and information elements in relation to the new requirements that arise. However, MACRAME has mainly been used (through its implementation in Microsoft ACCESS) as a methodology to support an analyst's activities in a project, according to the original purpose of the methodology.…”

Section: Methodological Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structuring fragmented knowledge: a case study

Knowledge Management Research & Practice

Salassa

2014

When the need to record and track the point of view of different actors in organizational processes becomes a key point for decision makers, a common representation of knowledge from different perspectives and a map of the situation and the decision and action needs could be useful. A methodology that easily and transparently integrates different 'soft' and 'hard' tools in a common knowledge structuring approach is proposed to deal with complexities and uncertainties in a socio-technical contest. The purpose of this paper is to show the potentialities of this methodology in a real case, in terms of organizational knowledge acquisition and structuring in a multi-actor public context, a university faculty, in relation to a radical change.

“…), c) structuring of the model, which is the formal representation of the decision problem and the possible actions, d) model validation and model documentation (in terms of sources and structure of a dedicated information base, structure and parameters of the model, results of the validation tests, tools that have to be or are used and results of each tool application), e) model management, to change its structure or modify parameters and information elements, to integrate tools that support the different functions and the results of each tool application in the global vision of the problem. These functions are suitable for all tasks concerning global management of problems and models [8]. Functions a, b and c, which are oriented towards problem and model formulation and representation, from an individual point of view, are developed mainly in the initial phases of the work when the unstructured problem and the acquired information elements are analysed and structured.…”

Section: Introduction To the Problem Situationmentioning

confidence: 99%

An application of MACRAME to support a multiunit project

Montagna

2008 IEEE International Engineering Management Conference

2008

Several people who are interested in the challenging possibility of producing an innovative light aircraft that utilizes hydrogen as a fuel, have decided to join their efforts in a collective project that involves researchers from different Departments of the Politecnico di Torino and a start-up company from the internal incubator.The main technical decisions were made during the first phase of the decision process, and the others are quite easy to make but the information on the consequences of making or buying decisions, in terms of time, cost and risk, are not shared and are often not present in the context in which the project develops.The authors were invited to participate in order to support project management, i.e. to facilitate communication, coordination and decision-making. The paper proposes our methodological approach to face uncertainties and complexities of these multi-actor decision processes and presents the description of how the tools we chose for this application were integrated and used to elaborate and represent alternative solutions, to collectively evaluate and choose and to create a communication space for the project.