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Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered as an engine for economic growth all over the world and especially for developing countries. During the past decade, new product development (NPD) has increasingly been recognized as a critical factor in ensuring the continued survival of SMEs. On the other hand, the rapid rate of market and technological changes has accelerated in the past decade, so this turbulent environment requires new methods and techniques to bring successful new products to the marketplace. Virtual team can be a solution to answer the requested demand. However, literature have shown no significant differences between traditional NPD and virtual NPD in general, whereas NPD in SME’s virtual team has not been systematically investigated in developing countries. This paper aims to bridge this gap by first reviewing the NPD and its relationship with virtuality and then identifies the critical factors of NPD in virtual teams. The statistical method was utilized to perform the required analysis of data from the survey. The results were achieved through factor analysis at the perspective of NPD in some Malaysian and Iranian manufacturing firms (N = 191). The 20 new product development factors were grouped into five higher level constructs. It gives valuable insight and guidelines, which hopefully will help managers of firms in developing countries to consider the main factors in NPD.

nvisages of New Product Developments in Small and Medium Enterprises through Virtual Team, Envisages of New Product Developments in Small and Medium Enterprises through Virtual Team    (дата: 2010-11-27)  Ale Ebrahim, Nader Ahmed, Shamsuddin Taha, Zahari

SMEs; Virtual research and development (R&D) teams and new product development: A literature review, SMEs; Virtual research and development (R&D) teams and new product development: A literature review    (дата: 2010-11-28)  Ale Ebrahim, Nader Ahmed, Shamsuddin Taha, Zahari

26983: Virtual R&D teams and SMEs growth: A comparative study between Iranian and Malaysian SMEs Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed and Zahari Taha

Critical factors for new product developments in SMEs virtual team (Critical factors for new product developments in SMEs virtual team)

: Virtual Teams: A New Opportunity to Develop a Business (Virtual Teams: A New Opportunity to Develop a Business) Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Salwa Hanim Abdul Rashid and Zahari Taha

Proposal of a model for effective management and development of virtual teams Petr Skyrik Abstract The main aim of this paper is to present a pilot proposal of a model of “Virtual Development Management System” (ViDeMaS) which will facilitate more effective management and development of virtual teams. Management and development of virtual teams is not a simple concept. It comprises a body of knowledge from a number of fields and scientific disciplines. The complexity of the koncept may not be simplified as it is absolutely essential for full understanding of its nature. In order to gain better orientation in the concept, different perspectives will be used in the description of the model, which will enable us to achieve the goal of the work and to present the main results of the work (creation of a model for Virtual Development Management System). The present paper thus describes from different perspectives the proposal of a sufficiently detailed and complex model that may be utilized both on theoretical and application level.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are indeed the engines of global economic growth. Their continued growth is a major subject for the economy and employment of any country. Towards that end, virtual research and development (R&D) could be a viable option to sustain and ease the operations of SMEs. However, literature shows there has not been a great deal of research into the diverse characteristic of virtual R&D teams in SMEs. This article provides a comprehensive literature review on different aspects of virtual R&D teams collected from the reputed publications. The purpose of the literature review is to provide an outline on the structure and dynamics of R&D collaboration in SMEs. Specifying the rationale and relevance of virtual teams, the relationship between virtual R&D team for SMEs and new product development (NPD) has been examined. It concludes with identifying the gaps and feebleness in the existing literature's and calls for future research in this area. It is argued to form of virtual R&D team deserves consideration at top level management for venturing into the new product development within SMEs. Key words: Virtual teams, small and medium enterprises, new product development, R&D.

Raval, R. R.; Ale Ebrahim, N.; Ahmed, S.; Taha , Z. (2010) Work together… when apart challenges and what is need for effective virtual teams. Journal of Information, Knowledge and Research in Business Management and Administration, 1 (1). pp. 1-3. ISSN 0975 – 671X

Ale Ebrahim, N.; Abdul Rashid, S.H.; Ahmed, S.; Taha, Z. (2011) The effectiveness of virtual R&D teams in SMEs: experiences of Malaysian SMEs. Industrial Engineering and Management Systems, 10 (2). pp. 109-114. ISSN 1598-7248

Ale Ebrahim, N.; Ahmed, S.; Taha, Z. (2010) Critical factors for new product developments in SMEs virtual team. African Journal of Business Management, 4 (11). pp. 2247-2257. ISSN 1993-8233 Ale Ebrahim, N.; Ahmed, S.; Taha, Z. (2010) Virtual R&D teams and SMEs growth: A comparative study between Iranian and Malaysian SMEs. African Journal of Business Management, 4 (11). pp. 2368-2379. ISSN 1993-8233

User involvement in designing a web-based support system for young carers – inspiring views and systemic barriers

User involvement in designing a web-based support system for young carers – inspiring views and systemic barriers Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/2077/32548 Files in This Item: File Description SizeFormat gupea_2077_32548_1.pdfThesis frame1330KbAdobe PDFView/Opengupea_2077_32548_2.pdfSpikblad396KbAdobe PDFView/Open Title: User involvement in designing a web-based support system for young carers – inspiring views and systemic barriers Authors: Elf, Mikael E-mail: elf.mikael@bredband.net Issue Date: 17-Apr-2013 University: Göteborgs universitet. Samhällsvetenskapliga fakultetenUniversity of Gothenburg. Faculty of Social Sciences Institution: Department of Psychology ; Psykologiska institutionen Parts of work: I. Elf, M., Skärsäter, I. & Krevers, B. (2011). “The web is not enough, it’s a base“ – an explorative study of what needs a web-based support system for young carers must meet. Informatics for Health and Social Care, 36(4), 206-219.VIEW ARTICLEII. Elf, M., Rystedt, H., Lundin, J. & Krevers, B. (2012). Young carers as co-designers of a web-based support system - the views of two publics. Informatics for Health and Social Care, 37(4), 203–216.VIEW ARTICLEIII. Elf, M., Rystedt, H. & Krevers, B. (20XX). Handling user influence in participatory design – a grounded theory study of the internal work of a design team. Manuscript submitted for publication.IV. Elf, M., Rystedt, H., Skärsäter, I. & Krevers, B. (20XX). A comparison of intended and real use of a research web health portal and its implementation. Manuscript submitted for publication. Date of Defence: 2013-05-24 Disputation: Fredagen den 24 maj 2013, kl 9.00, Sal F1, Psykologiska institutionen, Haraldsgatan 1. Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Publication type: Doctoral thesis Series/Report no.: Doctoral Dissertation Keywords: Design processmeta designonline supportparticipatory designpublicuser involvementweb-based health supportyoung carer Abstract: The studies in this dissertation have their origin in the research project PS Young Support. This project aimed to develop and evaluate a web-based support system (WBSS) for young people living close to someone with mental illness. To make this support relevant, and to achieve legitimacy and trustworthiness it was found important to cooperate with prospective users in developing it through a participatory design (PD) process. The dissertation follows two lines of investigation. One of these relates to how PD can inspire new views on design, while the other is about barriers to involvement of users. Specifically, inspiring views aims at how a PD process with prospective users as co-designers has influenced the way we think about WBSSs. Moving on from the common idea of a WBSS as a stand-alone intervention, Studies I and II show that WBSSs can be used as a tool to reach real-life support. Earlier research suggests that online support is rarely the preferred support; the present research show that young carers viewed it as a starting point for reaching real-life contacts and real- life support. Furthermore, young people with poor mental health are more prone to seek support online compared with those with less poor mental health. Hence, a WBSS could serve as a means to capture the former group and offer them online support. At the same time it could serve as a tool for reaching real-life support and external services. In this way the WBSS could offer a help path to individuals in need of support. Study IV investigates meta design, i.e. how users have really used the WBSS and the conditions for redesign. The development WBSS and its implemented version are compared with respect to their intended use (thing design) and how they really were used (use design). The context of use was found to be critical, since data collected in an experimental setting may be misleading and not reflect real use. Consequently, natural settings are recommended for user feedback. The second line of investigation in this dissertation concerns systemic barriers including barriers to user influence. It is not common in PD to focus on the designers. However, Study II and III reveal two types of barriers, both of which are connected to the designers. They are “systemic” barriers as they are a part of the setting that constitutes design. They cannot really be avoided, just handled. The first barrier has to do with the fact that users and designers do not regularly share the same social conditions, and consequently that they have different assumptions, implying that they may have difficulties to understand each other. Assumptions of shared views and the fact that understanding is a process that takes time may increase the effect of this foundational difference. Study II reports crucial differences in the views of what the WBSS should support. The second barrier concerns the impact of deadlines on designers’ attitudes to users’ contributions. Study III reports that halfway through the design process, designers reorganized their work and put more effort into the act of producing an artefact. Along with this shift, designers’ preferred type of knowledge seemed to change, from knowledge based on user experience to expert knowledge.... more ISBN: ISBN 978-91-628-8671-4 ISSN: 1101-718X URI: http://hdl.handl

Developing Real Skills for Virtual Teams

Developing Real Skills for Virtual Teams