Title: Constructing the FCM model of the agile NPD process with a genetic algorithm: the case of Iranian companies

Authors: R. Fekri, S. Alizadeh

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering, Payamenoor University Tehran, Iran. ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Khajenasir Toosi, Tehran, Iran

Abstract: The agile New Product Development (NPD) process is a complex and integrated process wherein all of its main factors have cause-and-effect relationships. A Fuzzy Cognitive Map (FCM) can be successfully applied to show the cause-and-effect relationships between the essential components in this kind of system and help managers extract a good view of this process and improve their decision quality. In this paper, an FCM model constructed with a Genetic Algorithm (GA) is proposed based on the interviews of NPD project managers in Iranian companies. The efficiency of the proposed model is compared with the FCM model constructed with a distance-based algorithm. The results shows that using a GA to construct the FCM model of the agile NPD process in Iranian companies is the better model compared to using a distance-based algorithm to construct the FCM model of this kind of process.

Keywords: agile NPD; new product development; fuzzy cognitive maps; FCM; learning; genetic algorithms; GAs; distance based algorithm; agility; cause-and-effect relationships; Iran; project management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJDATS.2009.027511

International Journal of Data Analysis Techniques and Strategies, 2009 Vol.1 No.4, pp.332 - 354

Published online: 28 Jul 2009 *

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