Managing Uncertainty in Innovative Design: Balancing Control and Flexibility

Abstract

We investigate how control and flexibility can be balanced to manage uncertainty in innovative design. Emphasis is placed on two sources of uncertainty (technological and market) and two types of uncertainty (foreseen and unforeseen) that generate challenges in innovative design. After identifying project practices that cope with these uncertainties in terms of control and flexibility, a case-study sample based on five innovative design projects from an automotive company is analyzed and shows that control and flexibility can coexist. Moreover, it points out those projects that are suitable for achieving an optimal balance between control and flexibility. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2014.