Improving communication through a social project management approach - a car industry case study

Abstract

This paper describes the results of a qualitative study for improving communication in New Product Development (NPD) projects through a social project management approach. Through a case study research strategy, the main communication problems in a Car Industry section, dealing with NPD projects, were identified and four important initiatives were established to solve these communication problems: (i) standardize an integrated project management process focused on social interaction; (ii) select the most appropriate information tools for an 'open' and continuous communication environment; (iii) standardize the information disclosure for each information tool; and (iv) create/improve the visualization of the disclosed information.