Benefiting from Agile and Lean UNcertainty management in complex Systems innovation (BALUNS)

Purpose and goal

Companies and organisations face major challenges due to unpredictable changes and increased complexity in the development of new products and services. Managing this uncertainty is central to increased competitiveness. The BALUNS project has increased our knowledge of how uncertainty management works in practice and the effects of this for large-scale complex system development in the technological forefront. One central issue has been the use of agile and lean-inspired principles and methods and how they work or are believed to work in relation to uncertainties.

Expected results and effects

The project has generated very rich and multifaceted information. It is in the nature of the subject because uncertainties are created both within and between traditional academic subject areas. The research has revealed great variety in the ways in which uncertainty is handled in the participating organisations. At the same time, it is clear that the area is characterised by locally-driven initiatives, hence guiding knowledge and overall systematics have great improvement potential. For this, the project has given the initial features of a toolbox for uncertainty management.

Planned approach and implementation

The project has been run in close collaboration with representatives from the two industrial partners in frequent joint meetings. These meetings have driven the projects forward and served as a platform for planning, decision making and dissemination of results. This solid foundation has created the conditions that the project needed to gain access to the contacts that have been critical to the project. The research design has primarily been based on semi-structured interviews and workshops. This was also expanded by using a quantitative approach later in the project.