A Method to Resolve Cross Functional Problems for a Project Manager

A new product development with sophisticated functions may cause the schedule delay, and higher development cost. One of the reasons is that the cross functional problems (CFPs) are difficult to analyze and to resolve. Often they will push back among groups to avoid the ownership. Moreover, the increasing number of groups segmented by specialization makes CFP difficult to manage. This paper describes ERAM (Extended Responsibility Assignment Matrix) . ERAM is a tool to implement a process to help reduce the occurrence of CFPs, and once occurred, to fix them smoothly. This method has a potential to improve the performance of the PBL with the industry-academia-government collaboration and the open innovation in which multiple organizations work together.