Allen curve

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The Allen curve is a graphical representation of communication theory , which shows the exponential decrease in the amount of communications engineers make the further they are apart. It was discovered in the late 1970s by Professor Thomas J. Allen of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology .

A related and highly significant discovery by Allen was the identification of the key role of so-called "information gatekeepers". Such interlocutors were often overlooked by the administration, although they conveyed important concepts between exactly the right people and exactly the other right people.

discovery

During the late 1970s, Allen conducted a project to investigate how the distance between engineering offices affected the frequency with which technical communication tools were used. The result of this investigation is what is now known as the Allen Curve, which revealed a strong negative correlation between physical distance and communication frequency between workplaces. The discovery also revealed a critical distance of 50 meters for weekly technical communication.

This discovery was originally documented in Allen's book Managing the Flow of Technology .

Younger development

With the rapid spread of the Internet and the sharp decline in telecommunications costs, observing the Allen curve has recently been questioned. In Allen co-authored book The Organization and Architecture of Innovation , Allen examined this question and concluded that the same is still true. He writes:

“For example, rather than finding that the probability of telephone communication increases with distance, as face-to-face probability decays, our data show a decay in the use of all communication media with distance (following a" near-field "rise) . ”

“Instead of finding, for example, that the likelihood of telephone communication increases with distance, as the likelihood of face-to-face situations decreases, our data shows a decrease in the frequency of use of all communication media with increasing distance (after an increase in the "close range"). "

He continues:

“We do not keep separate sets of people, some of whom we communicate with by one medium and some by another. The more often we see someone face-to-face, the more likely it is that we will also telephone that person or communicate by another medium. "

“We don't live in different groups of people, some with whom we communicate through one medium and some with whom we communicate through another. The more often we see someone face to face, the more likely it is that we will also call them or communicate with them through another medium. "

meaning

Because of the acknowledged far-reaching importance of communication for innovation, the Allen curve has been quoted and taught throughout the management literature on innovation.

In the business world, this principle had a very strong influence in many areas, such as in commercial architecture (see for example the Decker Engineering Building in New York, the Steelcase Corporate Development Center in Michigan, the BMW Research and Innovation Center in Munich and the Gläserne Volkswagen manufactory in Dresden) as well as in project management.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Thomas J. Allen: Managing the flow of technology: technology transfer and the dissemination of technological information within the R & D organization . MIT Press, Cambridge (Mass.) / London 1984, ISBN 0-262-51027-8 ( mitpress.mit.edu - description of the publisher).
  2. ^ A b c Thomas J. Allen, Gunter W. Henn: The organization and architecture of innovation. Managing the flow of technology . Butterworth-Heinemann, Amsterdam 2007, ISBN 978-0-7506-8236-7 , pp. 58 ( limited preview ).
  3. ↑ 15.980J / ESD.933J Organizing for Innovative Product Development Spring 2007 . Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on April 2, 2008. Retrieved March 25, 2008.
  4. ^ Architecture and Communication in Organizations . Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
  5. ↑ Management of Technology and Innovation . California Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on April 18, 2008. Retrieved March 25, 2008.
  6. ↑ Hsinchun Chen: Organizational Learning and Knowledge Generation (ppt) University of Arizona. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
  7. ↑ Communication for Inspiration vs. Distance and Walls . Retrieved on March 25, 2008.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / radlab.cs.berkeley.edu
  8. ^ Gunter Henn: Transparent Factory Dresden: the event of assembling a car . Prestel, Munich / London 2002, ISBN 3-7913-2540-X , p. 64 .
  9. ↑ James Herbsleb, Audris Mockus: An Empirical Study of Global Software development (PDF) International Conference on Software Engineering. 2001. Archived from the original on August 20, 2008. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 25, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / conway.isri.cmu.edu
  10. ^ David L. Cleland, Roland Gareis: Global Project Management Handbook: Planning, Organizing and Controlling International Projects . 2nd Edition. McGraw-Hill Publishing, New Yor 2006, ISBN 0-07-146045-4 , pp. 575 .