Collaboration between engineering consultants and their clients: characteristics of success

Participation in collaboration in product design and development has become common in today's industrial reality. Companies involved in collaborative projects face specific collaboration problems. This thesis addresses the problems of one particular type of collaboration: collaboration between engineering consultants and their clients in the vehicle industry in the area of combustion engine development. The characteristics of successful collaboration are analysed with a focus on the relationship between the partners. In this context, the characteristics of projects with clients from three countries - Germany, India, and Italy - receive special attention. In order to establish which characteristics are linked to projects that are successful for consultant or client, 60 cases were analysed. The data was gathered through structured, questionnaire-guided interviews. The findings of statistical analysis were interpreted using data from stays in client companies, unstructured interviews, a case study, and feedback on findings from people working in this area. The key findings are: the project success ratings of consultant and client are linked together, but are not necessarily identical; a large number of characteristics could be found that relate to (un)successful projects; in successful projects, an accumulation of success-related characteristics can be observed while in unsuccessful projects, there is an accumulation of failure-related characteristics; not all characteristics can be influenced directly. Some of the most important criteria can only be influenced through other characteristics; the most important characteristics for success are related to experience in terms of the relationship between the collaborators, understanding the culture of the client, and to project goal definition; projects are very diverse, and hence the importance of characteristics varies too, for example when collaborating with clients from different countries. The result of this research is a list of success or failure-related characteristics and a list of recommendations for collaborative projects. These are linked to: the decision on whether to bid for a project or not; the selection of the consultant project manager - one of the most important people in the collaborative project; project goal definition and those aspects that are of particular importance; communication during the project; and collaboration with clients from Germany, India and Italy in particular. One of the main conclusions of this thesis is that all projects - even within the narrow focus of this research - are different and consequently findings and recommendations cannot necessarily be transferred.