Power and Communication: Solving Power Problems for Collaboration in Globally Distributed Engineering Design Teams

Abstract

Because outsourcing and offshoring operations entail multi-site operations and inter-organizational alliances, they require effective boundary-spanning partnerships: inter-divisional, inter-organizational, and often, multi-country partnerships. This paper reports a multi-discipline research study—involving engineering, anthropology and telecommunications elements—on dispersed global engineering design teams. A framework involving power, culture, and collaborative activity is introduced. The focus here is on power and communications issues. Co-oriented, collaborative project activity is achieved when power issues are neutralized. When sub-team members perceive inequity, they frequently respond adversely. They may purposely create miscommunications among sub-teams, covertly subvert project goals, or otherwise act in ways that reduce project performance. Outsourcing of engineering design operations is a major challenge for the engineering profession. Outsourcing activity to India and China has increased; educational systems in these countries both improve in quality and augment the quantity of engineers produced. Traditional engineering skills are swiftly becoming a commodity in the global market.