Providing competence to the product development project: A conflict between fragmentary learning and holistic use

Development of new high-technology products requires the contribution of ma ny deeply specialized competences. The solving of design problems in cooper ation is traditionally achieved by organizing multidisciplinary project tea ms. Use of such teams, especially over a long time, has disadvantages. Poor efficiency and the hampering of strategical development of competences for future competitiveness are examples of this. Using benefits of modern info rmatics devoted to the human way of acting allows a better use of the compe tence resources which can be attained by use of virtual teams, graphically presented documentation systems, and problem-solving methods by network ana synthesis. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.