Allen curve

The Allen curve was discovered by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Thomas J. Allen in the late 1970s. It reveals the exponential drop of frequency of communication between engineers as the distance between them increases.

Discovery

During the late 1970s, Allen undertook a project to determine how the distance between engineers’ offices affects the frequency of technical communication between them. The result of that research, produced what is now known as the Allen Curve, revealed that there is a strong correlation between physical distance and the frequency of communication between work stations. The finding also revealed the critical distance of 50 meters for weekly technical communication.

This finding was originally documented in Allen’s book, "Managing the Flow of Technology" cite book
last = Allen
first = Thomas J.
authorlink =
url = http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=6100
coauthors =
year = 1984
title = Managing the Flow of Technology: Technology Transfer and the Dissemination of Technological Information Within the R&D Organization
publisher = MIT Press
location = Cambridge, MA
id = ] .

Recent development

With the fast advancement of internet and sharp drop of telecommunication cost, some wonder the observation of Allen Curve in today's corporate environment. In his recently co-authored book, Allen examined this question and the same still holds true. He says cite book
last = Allen
first = Thomas J.
authorlink =
coauthors = G. Henn
editor =
others =
title = The Organization and Architecture of Innovation: Managing the Flow of Technology
origdate =
origyear = 2006
origmonth =
url = http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.cws_home/709115/description#description
format =
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publisher = Butterworth-Heinemann
location =
language = English
id =
pages = 152
chapter =
chapterurl =
quote =]

:"For example, rather than finding that the probability of telephone communication increases with distances, 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)." [p. 58]

He further explains :"We do not keep separate sets of people, some of which we communicate in one medium and some by another. The more often we see someone face-to-face, the more likely it is that we will telephone the person or communicate in some other medium." [p. 58]

Significance

With the wide acknowledgment of importance of communication to innovation, Allen Curve has been taught and cited in all management literature about innovation. [cite web
url = http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Sloan-School-of-Management/15-980JSpring-2007/CourseHome/index.htm
title = Organizing for Innovative Product Development
accessdate = 2008, 03, 25 | accessmonthday = | accessyear =
author = | last = | first =
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publisher = Massachusetts Institute of Technology
archiveurl = | archivedate =] [cite web
url = http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Sloan-School-of-Management/15-990Fall2003/CourseHome/
title = Architecture and Communication in Organizations
accessdate = 2008, 03, 25 | accessmonthday = | accessyear =
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publisher = Massachusetts Institute of Technology
archiveurl = | archivedate =] [cite web
url = http://www.irc.caltech.edu/courses/Technology_and_Innovation_Management.htm
title = Management of Technology and Innovation
accessdate = 2008, 03, 25 | accessmonthday = | accessyear =
author = | last = | first =
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publisher = California Institute of Technology
archiveurl = | archivedate =] [cite web
url = http://ai.arizona.edu/hchen/class_presentation/2005MIS580/Organizational%20Learning%20and%20Knowledge%20Generation.ppt
title = Organizational Learning and Knowledge Generation
accessdate = 2008, 03, 25 | accessmonthday = | accessyear =
last = Chen
first = Hsinchun
authorlink =
coauthors =
date = | year = | month =
work = | publisher = University of Arizona
pages = | format = | language = English | quote =
archiveurl = | archivedate =] [cite web
url = http://radlab.cs.berkeley.edu/wiki/Physical_RAD_Lab#Communication_for_Inspiration_vs._Distance_and_Walls
title = Communication for Inspiration vs. Distance and Walls
accessdate = 2008, 03, 25 | accessmonthday = | accessyear =
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In the business world, this principle has had a very strong influence in many areas, such as commercial architecture designs (The Decker Engineering Building in New York, the Steelcase Corporate Development Center in Michigan, and BMWs Research Center in Munich, Germany, Volkswagen assembly and delivery center in Dresden, Germany [cite book
last=Henn |first=Gunter
title= Transparent Factory Dresden: The Event of Assembling a Car
publisher= Prestel
url=http://www.amazon.com/Transparent-Factory-Dresden-Event-Assembling/dp/379132540X/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206486336&sr=1-8
year=2003
month=03
pages=64
format=Paperback ] ), project management cite web
url=http://conway.isri.cmu.edu/~jdh/collaboratory/research_papers/ICSE_01_final(2).pdf
title=An Empirical Study of Global Software Development
accessdate=2008-03-25
last=Herbsleb |first=James
coauthors=Mockus, Audris; Finholt, Thomas A.; Grinter, Rebecca E.
date=2001
format=PDF
publisher=International Conference on Software Engineering
language=English] [cite book
last=Cleland |first=David L.
authorlink =
coauthors = G. Henn
editor =
others = Roland Gareis
title= Global Project Management Handbook: Planning, Organizing and Controlling International Projects, Second Edition
origdate =
origyear = 2006
origmonth =
url=http://www.ntccpg.com/product.php?isbn=0071460454
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publisher = McGraw-Hill
location =
language = English
id =
pages = 575
chapter =
chapterurl =
quote =] .

References

External links

* Thomas J. Allen: [http://esd.mit.edu/Faculty_Pages/allen/allen.htm on MIT ESD] [http://mitsloan.mit.edu/faculty/detail.php?in_spseqno=267&co_list=F on MIT Sloan]