A well-balanced project design using appropriate process models is an important success factor for the management of engineering development projects. There exists a wide range of different process models, including traditional waterfall-based models as well as agile development models like Scrum. Such standardized process models offer a good starting point for the management of engineering development projects; however, they have to be tailored in order to meet the needs of a specific project. Additionally, in complex environments, it might be necessary to construct dedicated process models, like hybrid combinations of several models. In this article, the groundwork for a systematic approach to the construction and tailoring of process models for engineering development projects is presented. It considers relevant international standards as well as traditional and agile process models and can serve as a basis for the subsequent tailoring processes. The developed framework offers the possibility to add distinctive characteristics to a process model, like means which facilitate quality, communication, or knowledge transfer. The evaluation of the framework was done by means of a case study, a survey, and expert interviews.

There is a strong desire from governments worldwide to digitalize their processes and to provide them for their citizens in an online format. Especially in the last view years, the SARS-COV-2 pandemic has amplified this desire, as during lock downs people were unable to visit their local government building. While there is a strong desire, some countries have struggled to provide online services to their citizens. Especially on the regional and local community level, the German government structures are just starting out to implement these processes. As these processes tend to become quite complex, this paper proposes to use adaptive process models in order make the process more clear for the ordinary citizen. To this case a short prototype on how an adaptive process model can be realized for applying for a building permit. This prototype uses a set of parameters to modify BPMN models in order to extract variants. The prototype is realized with the ADAMO Modeling tool.

Potential competing interests: No potential competing

Project management offers a broad set of tools for the definition, planning, execution and completion of very different projects. There are various more or less generic standards for this toolkit of project management-related roles, processes and methods. These need to be tailored to the specific needs of projects and their respective contexts. This paper provides a broad overview of tailoring approaches in relevant standards and other literature. The systematic literature search revealed very different concepts such as process-oriented or structure-oriented approaches. To provide orientation, the different approaches are categorized and described by way of examples. The results have the potential to help practitioners select an appropriate tailoring approach and to further improve the overall tailoring process in more comprehensive tailoring systems.

Während sich Konzepte der schlanken Produktion seit den 1990er-Jahren auch außerhalb Japans durchgesetzt haben, scheinen im Verwaltungsbereich kaum Verschlankungsinitiativen angegangen oder gar umgesetzt zu werden, obwohl der Lean-Gedanke bereits kurz nach den ersten Erfolgen in der Produktion auf indirekte Bereiche übertragen wurde. Jedoch blieb die Umsetzungstiefe deutlich hinter dem Produktionsbereich zurück. Bei anderen Unternehmen und v.a. bei öffentlichen Einrichtungen wird die Administration häufig noch übersehen. Um dies zu ändern, geht dieser Beitrag zunächst auf die Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede zwischen Produktion und Verwaltung ein, bevor auf Basis der gewonnenen Erkenntnisse ein Stufenmodell für die Umsetzung einer schlanken Verwaltung vorgeschlagen wird. Dieses Modell bietet nicht nur Ansatzpunkte, wie auf jeder Ebene gleichermaßen schnell wie aufwandsarm der Weg in Richtung einer schlanken Verwaltung beschritten werden kann, sondern dient zusätzlich auch als Raster für die gezielte IT-Unterstützung.

Since its introduction two decades ago, agile project management has established itself as an alternative to plan-based process models like the classical waterfall model. The selection of an appropriate process model is a critical factor for the success of the project. Many studies were conducted to identify parameters that should be considered in taking this decision. While these parameters are generally known, even down to specific fields like software development, they are usually only identified but not ranked in a specific order. However, not all parameters are of same importance. In order to determine the relevance of the parameters, a Delphi-based expert study was conducted. The result is an ordered list of parameters which help decision makers when selecting an appropriate agile or plan-based process model for project management.

Mobile devices and context recognition are the most important drivers of digitization. They help to increase productivity and efficiency by optimizing processes and adapting the situation according to context. For example, sensor data from a smartphone can be used together with vehicle and customer data to better plan routes for delivery drivers and adjust them during delivery. To exploit these possibilities, a mobile context-aware application must be developed. The model-driven architecture (MDA)-based development approach simplifies the development of such applications by designing a domain-specific modeling language (DSML) called SenSoMod. SenSoMod facilitates collaboration between domain experts and developers by discussing problems at a higher, more abstract level of the modeling language. Thus, SenSoMod helps to get a better estimation of the complexity of the application and thus supports the project management. Assisted by a modeling tool, code is generated from the designed model, reducing the implementation time of context-aware applications. Thus, the development time can be shortened and adaptations can be made faster. To test the assumed improvements that can positively impact project management, a proof-of-concept implementation of a mobile emergency corridor application was conducted. (Abstract)

Cities are facing regularly changing societal and infrastructural needs because of multiple reasons like a growing population, new ways of life and new societal needs, climate change, or digitalization. Often, changing needs and boundary conditions show a much higher dynamic than city administrations can cope with. The development of long-term strategies and concepts for smart cities and their implementation can, thus, be facilitated by integrating knowledge and competences available at innovative research institutions, like universities. Recent studies suggest that universities may take a leading role in supporting smart city projects. Nevertheless, a clear procedural approach of the knowledge transfer between universities and smart cities has not been described or tested, yet. To address this research gap, this paper will present a reference model, which can be used as a guideline. Traditionally, the role of universities is described by its missions to teach, to conduct research and to share new findings with its stakeholders. While concepts like the ‘Quintuple Helix’ and ‘Third Mission’ try to describe the role of universities as key players in innovation projects, only few studies describe their role specifically for smart city projects. Therefore, this article will propose a structured, procedural approach for collaboration and knowledge transfer between universities and smart cities with an adaptive reference model. Due to its flexible architecture, the adaptive reference model facilitates efficient and effective knowledge transfer between universities and external partners, in this case with the stakeholders involved in smart city projects.

Values and principles of agile working emphasize the benefits of personal communication and open team spaces with members sitting in close proximity. This facilitates customer-oriented results and reduces the risk for failures based on misunderstandings. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, most companies reduced office times and encouraged their employees to work from home in order to protect people from infection. Direct face-to-face communication was replaced by online meetings using video conferencing, chats, and cloud-based collaboration. This significantly changed the way of working. While online-based tools for remote collaboration were familiar to many employees before, others were reluctant to use them in the past. The sudden need to utilize these tools in order to be able to participate in business at all opened such tools for people who would not have used them under normal conditions. In this article, the results of a recent study are presented, in which the impact of the pandemic on agile working is examined. Based on these results, a scenario of the future of agile working in a post COVID-19 world is derived. The study was conducted as an online survey in Germany. More than 170 people working in different job positions and from different branches and companies participated. The study reveals that the pandemic significantly changed the way of working. However, people value digital tools and were able to find methods of effective and efficient collaboration in distant work environments.

The handling of process variants is becoming a more prevalent problem as companies have to maintain multiple processes that only differ in a small way. If changes in the process occur all variants have to be changed at the same time. This is highly cost and time intensive, especially for bigger companies. To address this problem, we have developed the Adamo modelling tool, which allows to generate only one master process and to derive possible variants automatically by inserting parameters. So far, this approach was based on Boolean logic, but this strict and clear-cut decision making was not suitable for all types of processes. Sometimes a more gradual approach was needed. Thus, we want to present in this paper the next step in Adamo development by adding a fractional 0–1 decision making option to the tool.

Die Automobilhersteller (OEM) verlagern immer mehr Anteile der Wertschöpfung an Zulieferer. Die unternehmensübergreifende Zusammenarbeit stellt jedoch besondere Herausforderungen an die Aufbau- und Ablauforganisation der beteiligten Unternehmen. Ausgangspunkt ist meist der Produktentstehungsprozess (PEP) des Automobilherstellers. Dieser wird von Zulieferern allerdings häufig als starr, unflexibel und bürokratisch wahrgenommen. Insbesondere für kleine, innovativ und agil arbeitende Zulieferer stellt eine über den traditionellen PEP organisierte Entwicklung eine Hürde dar. Das Ziel des vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung geförderten Projekts „HyValue – Hybridisierung in der Value Chain“ ist die Erarbeitung eines Konzepts für kollaborative Dienstleistungsarbeit und darauf aufbauend die Entwicklung eines neuen Geschäftsmodells „hybrider Kollaborationsexperte“. Als Teilprojekt wird vom Institute for Data and Process Science (ehemals Institut für Projektmanagement und Informationsmodellierung) der Hochschule Landshut ein digitales und adaptives Referenzmodell für den Produktentstehungsprozess in der Automobilindustrie entwickelt. Durch die adaptive Anpassung ist es möglich, die unternehmensindividuellen Arbeitsweisen und deren Kontextfaktoren, wie z. B. die Qualifikation von Mitarbeitenden oder die Teamgröße, im Prozess zu berücksichtigen. Auf diese Weise kann auf Basis des umfassenden Referenzmodells ein unternehmensindividuelles Prozessmodell abgeleitet werden, das es den beteiligten Unternehmen erlaubt, ihre individuell optimierten planbasierten, agilen oder hybriden Methoden der Produktentstehung zu verwenden und gleichzeitig qualitäts-, termin- und kostenorientiert über Unternehmensgrenzen hinweg zusammenzuarbeiten.

Der moderne automobile Produktentstehungsprozess (PEP) findet nicht mehr nur beim Erstausruster statt, sondern ist zum grosen Teil uber die gesamte Lieferkette fragmentiert. Daraus resultieren viele Teilprojekte in unterschiedlichen Unternehmen. Bisher wird die Zusammenarbeit und Kommunikation durch planbasierte Vorgehensweisen bestimmt, obwohl die Kontextfaktoren einzelner Teilprojekte fur agile oder hybride Vorgehensweisen sprechen. Fur die Handhabung der Vielfalt an Vorgehensvarianten und die Integration von alternativen Vorgehensmodellen in den PEP wird hier ein adaptives Referenzmodell vorgeschlagen. Auf Basis der Auspragung von Kontextfaktoren, passt sich das Modell an die Bedurfnisse des jeweiligen Partners in der Lieferkette an.

Traffic and environmental protection are current topics for modern cities. Both are heavily influenced by products of the automotive industry. In order to keep pace with technological innovation, sustainability requirements, and societal changes, the automotive industry has to improve development speed and flexibility. Efficient product development processes can help to achieve these targets. Traditionally, the automotive industry uses plan-based development process models like the waterfall or Vee-model. However, this may not be the most efficient and effective process for all suppliers partaking in automotive product development. Instead of a "one size fits all" approach, this research aims at an innovative, digital and adaptive product development process, which integrates the whole value chain including individual requirements of OEM (original equipment manufacturer) and suppliers. The process is digitally modelled as a reference model and allows for simple adaptation. Thus, it allows each development partner to use its plan-based, agile or hybrid development process while ensuring that the results of each partner fit together. Due to its flexible architecture, the adaptive reference model facilitates efficient and effective product development.

While the German car industry was very successful over the past few decades, new challenges have surfaced in recent years. Societal changes, technological innovation and sustainability requirements call for improvements in flexibility and speed during the automotive development process. Traditionally, plan-based frameworks like the waterfall or Vee-model are used by the automotive industry. However, these frameworks do not work well for all suppliers that partake in the automotive product development process. An agile or hybrid framework may offer a better alternative for specific suppliers. To create an innovative, digital and adaptive product development process, this research aims at the integration of the whole value chain. This includes the requirements of the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) and their suppliers. To allow for simple usage and adaptation, the knowledge is processed into a digital reference model. This generic reference model is then used to derive specific development processes that consider the context of each partner. By integrating communication mechanisms, it ensures that all partners can use their preferred framework for their development process while still ensuring a consistent product. In order to be able to select the most appropriate framework according to the context of a specific partner, the reference model takes into consideration all contextual factors of the development process.

Die hier vorliegende Arbeit beschaftigt sich mit dem Thema der adaptiven Referenzmodellierung. Da bisher nur wenige Softwaretools existieren, welche die Erstellung und spatere Auswertung von adaptiven Modellen unterstutzen, wird zuerst ein eine Analyse der von Usern geforderten Anforderungen durchgefuhrt. Die so erhobenen Informationen werden dann genutzt um ein Konzept fur die Entwicklung eines eigenen Softwaretools auf Basis von bestehender Open-Source Software zu erstellen. Dabei stellt sich heraus, dass die Elementselektion nach Termen eine geeignete Moglichkeit fur die Realisierung von adaptiven Modellen in einem Softwaretool darstellt. Auf Basis des erstellten Konzepts wird dann ein Prototyp programmiert, anhand dessen sich die zuvor erstellten Anforderungen validieren lassen und der eine praktische Demonstration der Forschungsergebnisse darstellt. Abschliesend werden Beispiele aus der Wirtschaft herangezogen, um die Tauglichkeit des Softwaretools auch im Praxiseinsatz darzustellen. Abschliesend werden nochmals die Ergebnisse zusammengefasst und ein Ausblick auf mogliche zukunftige Erweiterungen des Softwaretools gegeben.