The importance of project management in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for the development of new products through E-collaboration docx

African Journal of Business Management Vol.5 (30), pp. 11844-11855, 30 November, 2011
Available online at
DOI: 10.5897/AJBM10.1265
ISSN 1993-8233 ©2011 Academic Journals




Full Length Research Paper

The importance of project management in small- and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for the development
of new products through E-collaboration

Marjan Mohammadjafari
1
*, Shamsuddin Ahmed
1
, Siti Zawiah Md Dawal
1
and Hadi
Zayandehroodi
2


1
Department of Engineering, Design and Manufacturing University of Malaya, Lembah Pantai, 50603 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
2
Department of Electrical Engineering, Kerman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kerman, Iran.

Accepted 29 November, 2010

The research in this paper seeks ways for manufacturing companies to accomplish projects in real time
with less cost. This paper describes a new model using critical success factors of implementing
projects in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The factors in the conceptual model were
identified in past studies and are validated from interviews with 20 project managers in the electronics
industry in Iran. Several prior researches have suggested critical success factors for reducing time and
cost in the development of a new product. These factors are related to design, product, planning and
procurement. However, none of these studies has proposed a model that specifies practices that
should be undertaken to facilitate the progression to reduce time and cost in developing new products
in SMEs. Following this, a development of a new model will likely prove important to help SMEs to
understand what is required in order to be an effective global organization in terms of reducing time
and cost through electronic collaboration (E-collaboration) and project management. The concept and
value of E-collaboration and project management, and its strengths and weakness on SMEs, is also
explained.

Key words: E-collaboration, project management, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), new product,
reduces time, reduce cost.


INTRODUCTION

The manufacturing industry plays a vital role in the
economy of many countries (Mahaney and Lederer,
2009). A large number of small- and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) make up the manufacturing industries
of these countries, but they have some limitations for
entrance into and sustainability in the market, especially
on a global scale (Mohammadjafari et al., 2011). SMEs
are often suppliers to big companies and are producers

of final products for ultimate customers. In the case of
their final products, SMEs cannot compete with larger
companies without paying due attention to customer



*Corresponding author. E-mail:
Tel: 0060173141328.
needs. In the current customized market environment,
SMEs are able to increase product varieties, but the time
for developing a new product is often more than initially
thought.
However, new product introduction must be very timely
and cost competitive. One of the paths to time and cost
reduction in new product development is to create a
collaborative environment between the various
departments of one factory. Four departments, namely
design, production, planning and procurement, have a
key role in SMEs (Bashir, 2008; Kusar et al., 2004;
Roberts, 2006; Xie et al., 2002; Zhou et al., 2008).
Collaboration can be established in different ways using
different tools, one of which is E-collaboration (Bafoutsou
and Mentzas, 2002). The use of E-collaboration
technologies has become essential for supporting
Mohammadjafari et al. 11845

Figure 1. Project management process.



product development projects (Qureshi et al., 2005).
Alternatively, in many manufacturing industries, project-
oriented management has become a way to develop a
better work environment (Mohammadjafari et al., 2010a).
The research on which this paper is based seeks to
understand how companies based in the electronics
industry in Iran have approached the implementation of
their projects in real time with less cost. By investigation
into and interview with some of these companies, it
emerges that a major problem faced in new product
development by such companies is a lack of coordination
between different parts of the company. If the related
sections engage in electronic collaboration, led by the
project manager, the information for production of a new
product will be integrated, and the project will be finished
in real time. Furthermore, the cost for production will
likely decrease. The focus of this paper, then, is to
propose a conceptual model with which to improve new
product development in SMEs through E-collaboration
and project management.


E-collaboration

E-collaboration is an active cooperation among different
individuals to accomplish a joint task using electronic

technologies (Cai and Kock, 2009). “E-collaboration and
collaborative tools bring geographically dispersed teams
together for virtual meetings across great distances”
(Bafoutsou and Mentzas, 2002). “The field of
collaborative computing encompasses the use of
computers to support coordination and cooperation of two
or more people who attempt to perform a task or solve a
problem together” (Borenstein, 1992). In this study, the
authors consider E-collaboration between different
departments of one factory.


Project management

Initially, a project emerges because there is something
important and complex to be solved. The project
organization then develops due to a need for a
purposeful organizational effort and a high level
coordination in order to execute a number of activities
(Sِderlund, 2004). Project management is a methodology
for managing a project (Ramaprasad and Prakash,
2003). “Project management, including the tools,
techniques, and knowledge-based practices applied to
manage the creation of products and services, is
becoming an increasingly accepted and applied discipline
across industry sectors” (Jugdev et al., 2007). Project
management is “the manner of implementation, of
expertise, paraphernalia, knowledge and modus operandi
to an extensive range of activities for the fulfillment of
prerequisite of the specific project” (Qureshi et al., 2009).

Project management has become a distinctive way to
manage business activities nowadays (Filippov and Mooi,
2010). Project management is becoming a key strategy
for managing organizational change in contemporary
organizations, with corporations, government, academia
and other organizations recognizing the value of common
project approaches and of educated employees for the
execution of projects (Rooij, 2009). Most of all, project
managers are in the front-line when it comes to assuring
customer satisfaction (Kirsilä et al., 2007). By these
definitions, and due to the importance of the role of
project management in the success of projects, the
authors consider related department collaboration on
product development by the project manager through e-
collaboration.


Project management process

All projects have a beginning and an ending, and project
management has corresponding initiating and closing
processes. The middle, or work of the project, is
managed by planning, executing, and monitoring and
controlling processes (Guide, 2004). Effective project
management involves repeated performance of these
processes, as illustrated in Figure 1. For this research,
the project manager leads the projects through the steps
presented in the Figure.
11846 Afr. J. Bus. Manage.

Table 1. Project management institute project management area.

Project management area
Description
Integration management
Unifying the activities and resources of the project to complete.
Scope management
Ensuring that the project includes all the work required, but only the work required to meet the project
requirements.
Time management
Ensuring timely completion.
Cost management
Ensuring that the project can be completed within the project budget.
Quality management
Ensuring that the project product will satisfy the project requirements.
Procurement management
Managing the purchasing and acquisition of outside goods and services required to complete the
project.
Risk management
Identifying and managing project risks.
Communications
management
Ensuring timely and appropriate project communication.
Human resource
management
Organizing and managing the project team.

Adapted from Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 3rd ed., Project Management

Institute, Inc., 2004. Copyright and all rights reserved.



Project management area

Projects are typically part of an organization. The
relationship between the project and organization varies,
and that relationship affects the scope of project
management responsibilities. Although the nature of
project management responsibility varies by organization
and by project within an organization, project
management encompasses many areas. The Project
Management Institute in the United States in 2004
(Project Management Institute, 2004), listed project
management areas, summarized in Table 1, which
provides a sense of the breadth of the project
management task. The Project Management Book of
Knowledge (Project Management Institute, 2004)
provides comprehensive description of activities
associated with each area, the interaction of the areas
with the key project management processes described
earlier, available management tools and techniques for
each area, and input and outputs of each area (Jacobson
et al., 2006).
In this research, the authors attend to two areas of
project management from nine existing areas, because of
the operation of the conceptual model. One is integration
management and the other is communications
management.

Small and medium enterprises in developing E-
collaboration

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play an important
role in promoting economic development (Ale Ebrahim et
al., 2009a). In most countries, SMEs dominate the
industrial and commercial infrastructure (Deros et al.,
2006). SMEs play a very important role in national
economies, providing job opportunities, act as supplier of
goods and services to large organizations, and any lack
of product quality could adversely affect the competitive
ability of the larger organizations (Deros et al., 2006).
“Small firms are indeed the engines of global economic
growth” (Acs et al., 1997). SMEs have an important role
in flows of foreign direct investment (Kuo and Li, 2003).
SMEs also serve as the key engine behind equalizing
income disparity among workers. SMEs are increasingly
internationalizing their business activities (Beck et al.,
2005).
According to Ale Ebrahim, there are many accepted
definitions of SMEs. The classifications vary from industry
to industry and from country to a country, different
countries accept dissimilar criteria such as employment,
sales or investment for defining small and medium
enterprises. In the absence of a definitive classification,
an agreement has developed around the European
Commission (EC) criteria for SME classification. This
definition adopts a quantitative approach emphasizing

“tangible” criteria, employee numbers (up to 250
employees), turnover (less than 50 million EUR) and
balance sheet statistics (less than 43 million EUR) (Ale
Ebrahim et al., 2009b).
Our attention in this study is focused on SMEs in Iran.
While the term SME has varied definitions from different
organizations, the most acceptable one is similar to the
EC definition, except for financial criteria. According to
these definitions and the importance of SMEs in
manufacturing industries in this research, the author
chose these types of companies.


Strengths and weakness characteristics of SMEs in
developing E-collaboration

For a better understanding of SME activity, summary
information of SME characteristics is listed in Tables 2
Mohammadjafari et al. 11847



Table 2. Strength characteristics of SMEs.

Strength
Reference
Easily adaptive to new market conditions, flexible to change, developing
customized solutions for partners and customers, dynamic in activities
(Ale Ebrahim et al., 2009b; Aragón-Sánchez and Sánchez-
Marín, 2005; Davis and Sun, 2006; Mezgár et al., 2000)

Knowledge creating
(Ale Ebrahim et al., 2009b; Egbu et al., 2005)


Excellent at multi-tasking
(Ale Ebrahim et al., 2009b; Schätz, 2006)


Powerfully correlated and inter-related with respect to innovation
(Bhagwat, 2006; Gray, 2006; Huang et al., 2001; Jutla et
al., 2002)


Capable to answer quickly to customer requests and market changes,
customers focused
(Abdul-Nour et al., 1999; Ale Ebrahim et al., 2009b; Kim et
al., 2008)


Quick decision making process
(Lawson et al., 2006; Schätz, 2006)


Able of going global rapidly
(Ale Ebrahim et al., 2009b; Gassmann and Keupp, 2007)


Routine processes, flexible structures

(Bhagwat, 2006; Gassmann and Keupp, 2007; Haga,
2005)


Useful
(Beck et al., 2005)



and 3.


New product development

New product development (NPD) is a business process
for developing new products for a company, whether it is
an upgrade of an existing product or a new concept
(either for the company or for the customer). It includes
all activities from the development of an idea or a concept
for a product, to the realization of the product during the
production stage and its introduction into a market place
(Hohenegger et al., 2007).
SMEs need to develop their products for competing in
the market, and then they need to develop new products.
In that case, the authors tend to focus on new product
development in SMEs.


RELATED STUDIES

By investigation into prior research, the author finds one
of the problems in many industries is the long time
required to develop a new product. From the literature
review, it is discovered that four departments are
influential in reducing time and cost in new product
development in manufacturing companies. These
departments are those of design, procurement, planning
and production (Bashir, 2008; Carter, 1997; Clift and
Vandenbosch, 1996; Griffin, 1997; Roemer and Ahmadi,
2010; Selvaraj et al., 2009; Tan and Vonderembse, 2006;
Xie et al., 2002). A summary of the prior studies is shown
in Table 4.


METHODOLOGY

Model verification methodology

The primary ideas on the development of a conceptual model were
devised based on a brainstorming process with academics.
Following the primary expansion of the conceptual model, feedback
was obtained from participants in the industry and academics. The
objectives of obtaining feedback on the model include:

(1) Identify how integration can be achieved among different parts
of a manufacturing company.
(2) Reduce new product development time by using the conceptual
model.
(3) Reduce the cost of new product development by using this
model.

The validation of the conceptual model was conducted through one-
to-one semi-structured interviews with 20 participants. All
participants were from the electronics industry and each held a
project management position. All had related knowledge and
experience.
The interviews were conducted via video conferencing. The
duration of the interviews lasted between 50 min to 1 h. The
participants were given an explanation regarding the purpose of the
feedback, the purpose of the conceptual model, some background
of the research that lead to the development of the model, and key
11848 Afr. J. Bus. Manage.



Table 3. Weakness characteristics of SMEs.

Weakness
Reference
Lagging in the export, lack the resources necessary to enter foreign
markets
(Jansson and Sandberg, 2008; Mahajar et al., 2006)


Weak at converting research and development into effective innovation
(Ale Ebrahim et al., 2009b; O'Regan et al., 2006)


Scarce resources and manpower
(Abdul-Nour et al., 1999; Chou, 2008, Kim et al., 2008;

Westerlund and Rajala, 2008)


Strategy formulation on the basis of what available, lack a long run
perspective
(Ojeda-Gomez et al., 2007; Yusuff et al., 2005)


Limited degree of information technology (IT) implementation

(Chou, 2008; Egbu et al., 2005; Eikebrokk and Olsen,
2007; Sarosa and Zowghi, 2003)


Lack of industrial engineers or right kind of manpower to apply various
statistical and managerial methods or tools
(Ahmed and Hassan, 2003; Ale Ebrahim et al., 2009b)


SMEs shy away from formal projects and long-term initiatives and instead
only participate in small-scale, once-off initiatives
(Burke and Gaughran, 2006)



concepts from the literature. In the feedback process, the opinions
of the industrialists and academics were obtained based on their
knowledge and experience.

Methodology for review of the related articles

The review is based on reliable publications. It covers aspects like
scope of reduced time and cost by E-collaboration through project
management approaches. The articles are collected from leadings
journals and books related to the topic published since 1992.
There is a poor track record of reducing time and cost by E-
collaboration through project management. Only a few studies have
been conducted on this subject. In order to prove this allegation, the
distribution of published articles per year extracted from the Web of
Science database is demonstrated in Figures 2 and 3. However,
the tendency of publication has shown that E-collaboration, SMEs,
project management and new products are an interesting topic. In
order to prove this assertion, the distribution of published articles
per year extracted from the Web of Science database is
demonstrated in Figures 4 to 7. Therefore, in order to determine the
formation of active management involvement in the field, we
consider a broader scale of literature. The references used contain
approximately 55 articles out of 400 selected articles, which were
taken from 670 pre-investigated items, shown in Figure 8.


Theoretical foundations and conceptual model

As indicated by the review of the literature, it is almost
universally accepted that the time needed for new
product development is a major concern for SMEs (Hung
et al., 2007; Langerak and Hultink, 2008; Roemer and
Ahmadi, 2010; To et al., 2009). However, an examination
of the interdisciplinary literatures identifies four

departments that affect the completion of projects in
terms of time and budget: design, planning, production
and procurement. The effects of these four departments
have been studied separately under several theoretical
perspectives in recent years (Mohammadjafari et al.,
2011; Roberts, 2006; Roemer and Ahmadi, 2010;
Selvaraj et al., 2009). However, none of these studies
has proposed a model that specifies practices that should
be undertaken to facilitate the progression to reduce time
and cost in developing new products in SMEs.
To understand the importance of coordinating these
sections with the project manager and validated the
model, the author interviewed 20 project managers. The
majority of project managers interviewed stated that the
lack of coordination between the related departments in
production was the major problem in the inability to
reduce time and cost. Our interviews led us to the
primary conclusion that the long time required for new
product development results from a lack of coordination.
The companies interviewed were in the electronics
industry. The purpose of these interviews was to
understand the companies’ process for collaboration
among four departments into product and process
development and to elicit insights into how they had
overcome barriers along the way.
Using the information from these interviews, we
developed a conceptual model that is characterized by
the major activities required for interdepartmental
collaboration in new product development. Our case
studies suggest that companies that had achieved

reduced time for new product development had more
effective interdepartmental collaboration. Four critical
elements of this process are captured in the explanatory
Mohammadjafari et al. 11849



Table 4. Numerous of influence factors for reduce time and cost based on literature review.

Search
result

Subject

Source information
Project
management

Manufacturing
Product
Design
Procurement
Planning
Quality control
Organization
Innovation
Process
Tool
Product
complexity

Involvement of
partners
Concurrent
product
Team structure
Project strategy
Concurrent
engineering
Training and
rewarding
Simplification of
structure
Lead user
Supplier
integration
Virtual
production
Time
compression
Technologies
CAD technology
Setting buffers
identifying
critical chain
Development
capacity
Techniques
Speed

Reference

√











√
√

(Clift et al., 1996)
√









√




√
√

(Griffin, 1997)

√
√


(Carter, 1997)
√




√

(Hartley et al., 1997)

√







(Athakorn et al.,
2001)



√
√







√

(Xie et al., 2002)
√

√













(Kusar et al., 2004)
√

√









(Petersen et al 2005)

√






(Tan and
Vonderembse, 2006)





√

(Roberts et al.,
2006)



√
√

√






√



















(Zhou et al., 2008)
√

√
√















√

(Bashir, 2008)

√




√












√
√
√








√

(Ahlemann, 2009)




√

(Selvaraj et al.,
2009)

√





√









√

√
√




(Xia-Bao et al.,
2009)





√

(Lifang et al., 2009)




√

√






(Vinodh et al., 2009)
√





√

(Hebert et al.,
2010)
√

√
√
√

(Roemer and
Ahmadi, 2010)
11850 Afr. J. Bus. Manage.



Table 4. Continued.



Performance effect

Research methodology

Source information
E-collaboration

Time
cost
Quality
variety
Other

Simulation
Process Model
Theory -Building
Framework
Case study(small n)
Empirical(large n)
Experiment
Math. Modeling
www-based
Review
statistical
pattern matching
prototype
pilot study
creative software

Reference

√
















√




(Clift and Vandenbosch, 1996)

√





(Griffin, 1997)


√

√










(Carter, 1997)


√












√

(Hartley et al., 1997)


√







√

(Athakorn et al., 2001)
√

√
√







√




√







(Xie et al., 2002)

√
√
















√



(Kusar et al., 2004)


√
√
√

√













(Petersen et al., 2005)


√
√
√

√


(Tan and Vonderembse, 2006)
√

√
√












√

(Roberts et al., 2006)
√

√
√






√





√

√

(Zhou et al., 2008)


√












√








(Bashir, 2008)

√









√











(Ahlemann, 2009)


√
√

√



(Selvara et al., 2009)


√





√

√









(Xia-Bao et al., 2009)


√
√
√










√

(Lifang et al., 2009)
√

√
√








√

(Vinodh et al., 2009)


√
√








√











(Hebert et al., 2010)

√












√








(Roemer and Ahmadi, 2010)



model (Figure 9) and supported by prior
researchers (Petersen et al., 2005; Roemer and
Ahmadi, 2010; Xia-Bao and Li-Xi, 2009; Zhou et
al., 2008). In this model, we consider four sets of

hypotheses:

H
1
: The communication between a designer in the
department of design and project manager is
essential before starting production.
H
2
: Coordination between product manager and
project manager is necessary for reducing time for
new production development before the start of
production.
H
3
: The procurement manager must report to the
project manager about preparing equipment
before starting a project.
H
4
: The project manager must be familiar with the
product plans and then the control project
manager must report to the project manager
before arriving at the project in the line of product.


Conclusion

This paper looks at the development of a new
model using critical success factors of reduce time

and cost that were identified in past studies and
Mohammadjafari et al. 11851





Figure 2. Number of publication in field E-
collaboration, project management and new product
(source: Web of Science ® 2010).





Figure 3. Number of publication in field e-
collaboration, project management and SMEs
(source: Web of Science ® 2010).





Figure 4. Trend of E-collaboration (source: Web of
Science ® 2010).



validated from a survey. Increasingly, more studies
create awareness of the critical success factors that are

important in reducing time and cost in new product
development. These factors are the departments of
design, planning, procurement and production.
Additionally, the author presented some definitions of the
value of E-collaboration, project management, SMEs and
new product development. Future research can improve
11852 Afr. J. Bus. Manage.





Figure 5. Trend of project management (source: Web of
Science ® 2010).





Figure 6. Trend of SMEs (source: Web of Science ®
2010).





Figure 7. Trend of new product (source: Web of Science
® 2010).
Mohammadjafari et al. 11853

Figure 8. Schematic diagram of the literature.




Project
Manager by
E-Collaboration
Department
of Design
Department
of Production
Department
of Procurement
Department
of Planning

Production Line
H1
H4
Reduce Time
of Product
Decrease Cost
of Product
H2
H3

Figure 9. Conceptual model for reducing time and cost.



new product development in SMEs by this information.


REFERENCES

Abdul-Nour G, Drolet J, Lambert S (1999). Mixed production,
flexibility and sme. J. Comput. Ind. Eng., 37(1-2): 429-432.
Acs ZJ, Morck R, Shaver JM, Yeung B (1997). The
internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises: A policy
perspective. J. Small Bus. Econ., 9(1): 7-20.
Ahmed S, Hassan M (2003). Survey and case investigations on
application of quality management tools and techniques in smis. J.
Qual. Reliab. Manage., 20(6-7): 795-826.
Ale Ebrahim N, Ahmed S, Taha Z (2009a). Modified stage-gate: A
conceptual model of virtual product development process. Afr. J.
Mark. Manage., 1(9): 211-219.
Ale EN, Ahmed S, Taha Z (2009b). Virtual r & d teams in small and
medium enterprises: A literature review. J. Sci. Res. Essay,
4(13): 1575-1590.
Aragón-Sánchez A, Sánchez-Marín G (2005). Strategic orientation
11854 Afr. J. Bus. Manage.

management characteristics, and performance: A study of spanish
smes. J. Small Bus. Manage., 43(3): 287-308.
Bafoutsou G, Mentzas G (2002). Review and functional classification
of collaborative systems. J.Inform. Manage., 22(4): 281-305.
Bashir HA (2008). Modeling of development time for hydroelectric
generators using factor and multiple regression analyses.J.
Project Manage., 26(4): 457-464.
Beck T, Demirguc-Kunt A, Levine R (2005). Smes, growth, and
poverty: Cross-country evidence. J. Econ. Growth, 10(3): 199-229.
Bhagwat M (2006). Practice of information systems evidence from
select indian smes. J. Manuf. Tech. Manage., 17(1-2).
Borenstein NS (1992). Computational mail as network infrastructure
for computer-supported cooperative work. ACM.
Burke S, Gaughran WF (2006). Intelligent environmental
management for smes in manufacturing. J. Robot. Comput-Integr.
Manuf., 22(5-6): 566-575.
Cai G, Kock N (2009). An evolutionary game theoretic perspective
on e-collaboration: The collaboration effort and media
relativeness. Euro. J .Oper. Res., 194(3): 821-833.
Carter J (1997). Reducing cycle time by optimizing your product
portfolio. Innovation in Technology Management - The Key to
Global Leadership. PICMET '97: Portland International
Conference on Management and Technology.
Chou C (2008). Entities' representation modes and their
communication effects in collaborative design for smes. J. Adv.
Manuf. Technol., 37(5-6).
Clift TB, Vandenbosch MB (1996). Project complexity and efforts to
reduce product development cycle time. 2nd Seminar on Strategy
Implementation and Assessment Research. Montreal, Canada.
Elsevier Science Inc.

Davis CH, Sun E (2006). Business development capabilities in
information technology smes in a regional economy: An
exploratory study. J. Tech. Transf., 31(1): 145-161.
Deros BM, Yusof SM, Salleh AM (2006). A benchmarking
implementation framework for automotive manufacturing smes. J.
Benchmark., 13(4): 396-430.
Egbu CO, Hari S, Renukappa SH (2005). Knowledge management
for sustainable competitiveness in small and medium surveying
practices. J. Struct. Surv., 23(1): 7-21.
Eikebrokk TR, Olsen DH (2007). An empirical investigation of
competency factors affecting e-business success in european
smes. J. Info. Manage., 44(4): 364-383.
Filippov S, Mooi H, (2010) Innovation project management: A research
agenda. J. Innov. Sustainability, 1(1): 1-15.
Gassmann O, Keupp MM (2007).The competitive advantage of early
and rapidly internationalising smes in the biotechnology industry:
A knowledge-based view. J. World Bus., 42(3): 350-366.
Gray C (2006). Absorptive capacity, knowledge management and
innovation in entrepreneurial small firms. J. Entrepreneur. Behav.
Res., 12(6): 345-360.
Griffin A (1997).The effect of project and process characteristics on
product development cycle time. J. Market. Res., 34(1): 24-35.
Guide P (2004). A guide to the project management body of
knowledge. Project Management Institute, Pennsylvania, USA.
Haga T (2005). Action research and innovation in networks,
dilemmas and challenges: Two cases. J. AI. Soc., 19(4): 362-383.
Hohenegger J, Bufardi A, Xirouchakis P (2007). A new concept of
compatibility structure in new product development. J.Adv. Eng.
Informatics, 21(1): 101-116.
Huang X, Soutar GN, Brown A (2001).Resource adequacy in new

product development: A discriminant analysis. Eur. J. Innov.
Manage., 4(1): 53-59.
Hung HF, Kao HP, Ku KC (2007).Evaluation of design alternatives in
collaborative development and production of modular products. J.
Adv. Manuf. Technol., 33(11-12): 1065-1076.
Jacobson N, Daswani S, Gesteland PH (2006). Project
management, in: M.D, D. M. M. W. Ph, D. A. W. M. Ph, M. B. A. R.
M. Aryel WM, Andrew & M. A. Ron (Eds) Handbook of
biosurveillance. Burlington, Academic Press), 493-506.
Jansson H, Sandberg S (2008). Internationalization of small and
medium sized enterprises in the baltic sea region. J. Manage.,
14(1): 65-77.




Jugdev K, Mathur G, Fung TS (2007).Project management assets
and their relationship with the project management capability of
the firm. J. Project Manage., 25(6): 560-568.
Jutla D, Bodorik P, Dhaliwal J (2002). Supporting the e-business
readiness of small and medium-sized enterprises: Approaches
and metrics. J. Res. Electron. Netw. Appl. Policy, 12(2): 139-64.
Kim KS, Knotts TL, Jones SC (2008).Characterizing viability of small
manufacturing enterprises (sme) in the market. J. Expert Syst.
Appl., 34(1): 128-134.
Kirsilä J, Hellström M, Wikström K (2007).Integration as a project
management concept: A study of the commissioning process in
industrial deliveries. J. Project Manage., 25(7): 714-721.
Kuo HC, Li Y (2003). A dynamic decision model of smes' fdi. J.
Small Bus. Econ., 20(3): 219-231.

Kusar J, Duhovnik J, Grum J, Starbek M (2004).How to reduce new
product development time. J. Robot. Comput-Integr. Manuf.,
20(1): 1-15.
Langerak F, Hultink EJ (2008).The effect of new product
development acceleration approaches on development speed: A
case study. J. Eng. Technol. Manage., 25(3): 157-167.
Lawson CP, Longhurst PJ, Ivey PC (2006).The application of a new
research and development project selection model in smes. J.
Technov., 26(2): 242-250.
Mahajar AJB, Abdullah SS, Yunus JBM (2006).The effectiveness of
small and medium development corporation (smidec) export
assistance programs on malaysian sme’s. Proceedings of
Advances in Global Business Research Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Mahaney RC, Lederer AL (2009).The role of monitoring and shirking
in information systems project management. J. Project Manage.
(In Press)
Mezgár I, Kovács GL, Paganelli P (2000).Co-operative production
planning for small- and medium-sized enterprises. Int. J. Product.
Econ., 64(1-3): 37-48.
Mohammadjafari M, Ahmed S, Dawal SZM, Zayandehroodi H
(2010a).The effects of electronic collaboration in reducing
production time: Product design process in smes. Proceedings of
the International MultiConference of Engineers and Computer
Scientists.Hong Kong.
Mohammadjafari M, Ahmed S, Dawal SZM, Zayandehroodi H
(2011). Reducing time and cost of new product development in
SMEs by E-collaboration through project management approach.
J. Adv. Sci. Lett., 4(6/7): 2513-2516
Mohammadjafari M, Ahmed S, Dawal SZM, Zayandehroodi H
(2011). Toward a theoretical concept of E-collaboration through

project management in smes for reducing time and cost in new
product: A review. J. Appl. Sci., 11(1): 174-182.
O'regan N, Ghobadian A, Gallear D (2006). In search of the drivers
of high growth in manufacturing smes. J.Technovat., 26(1): 30-41.
Ojeda-Gomez, J, Simpson M, Koh SCL, Padmore J (2007).
Achieving competitive advantage in the mexican footwear
industry. J. Benchmark.,14(3): 289-305.
Petersen KJ, Handfield RB, Ragatz GL (2005).Supplier integration
into new product development: Coordinating product, process and
supply chain design. J.Oper. Manage., 23(3-4): 371-388.
Project Management Institute, I (2004). A guide to the project
management body of knowledge:(pmbok guide). Project
Management Institute Newtown Square PA, USA.
Qureshi S, Min L, Vogel D (2005). A Grounded Theory Analysis of E-
Collaboration Effects for Distributed Project Management.
Proceedings of the 38th Hawaii International Conference on System
Sciences, Big Island, Hawaii.
Qureshi TM, Warraich AS, Hijazi ST (2009).Significance of project
management performance assessment (pmpa) model. J. Project
Manage., 27(4): 378-388.
Ramaprasad A, Prakash AN (2003).Emergent project management:
How foreign managers can leverage local knowledge. J. Project
Manage., 21(3): 199-205.
Roberts M (2006). Improving product launch times and product
design through a service assembly environment. J. BT. Tech., 24(1):
107-116.
Roemer TA, Ahmadi R (2010). Models for concurrent product and
process design. Euro. J. Oper. Res. 203(3): 601-613.

Rooij SWV (2009).Scaffolding project-based learning with the project
management body of knowledge (pmbok®). J. Comput. Educat.,
52(1): 210-219.
Sarosa S, Zowghi D (2003). Strategy for adopting information
technology for smes: Experience in adopting email within an
indonesian furniture company. J. Inform. Syst. Eval., 6(2): 165-
176.
Schätz C (2006). A methodology for production development–the
body of knowledge approach.
Sِderlund J (2004).Building theories of project management: Past
research, questions for the future. J.Project Manage., 22(3): 183-
191.
Selvaraj P, Radhakrishnan P, Adithan M (2009). An integrated
approach to design for manufacturing and assembly based on
reduction of product development time and cost. J. Adv. Manuf.
Tech., 42(1): 13-29.
Tan CL, Vonderembse MA (2006).Mediating effects of computer-
aided design usage: From concurrent engineering to product
development performance. J.Oper. Manage., 24(5): 494-510.
To CKM, Fung HK, Harwood RJ, Ho KC (2009).Coordinating
dispersed product development processes: A contingency

Mohammadjafari et al. 11855



perspective of project design and modelling. J. Prod. Econ., 120(2):
570-584.
Westerlund J, Rajala RRA (2008).Social capital in the growth of
science-and-technology-based smes. Ind. Market. Manage., 37(5).
Xia-Bao H, Li-Xi Y (2009). Setting lead-time in project manufacturing
environment based on ccpm. Apperceiving Computing and
Intelligence Analysis. ICACIA.
Xie SQ, Huang H, Tu YL (2002). A www-based information
management system for rapid and integrated mould product
development. J. Manuf. Technol., 20(1): 50-57.
Yusuff RM, Chek LW, Hashmi MSJ (2005).Advanced manufacturing
technologies in smes. CACCI J. Commer. Ind., 1(1-11).
Zhou ZD, Ai QS, Liu Q, Xie SQ, Ieee (2008). A www-based
collaborative design and manufacturing system for rapid mould
product development. IEEE International Conference on Industrial
Technology. Chengdu, Peoples Republic of China.