Confronting an identity crisis - how to "brand" systems engineering

Systems Engineering is not a new discipline; the term has been in use since World War II. Yet, while there has been no shortage of definitions of the term over the years (not all of which are consistent), there is little consensus on the scope of Systems Engineering. This is particularly true in relation to other overlapping disciplines such as System Dynamics, Operations Research, Industrial Engineering, Project Management, Soft Systems Methodology, Specialist Engineering, and Control Theory, which share many of the origins and techniques of Systems Engineering. This paper presents a landscape of disciplines and suggests that INCOSE should “brand” Systems Engineering strategically, defining explicitly its position within this landscape including its points of parity (overlaps) and points of difference with other disciplines. Actively branding Systems Engineering will broaden its appeal and attract more interest from stakeholders outside the current Systems Engineering community. INCOSE’s “market share” relative to its biggest systems competitor—Project Management—is falling, so even though INCOSE membership is rising, more needs to be done to promote the profession

Discourses of systems engineering

Systems engineering is unique in being characterised by its methods rather than its artefacts. Consequently, the scope of systems engineering is difficult to define. While some systems engineers contend that systems engineering is capable of addressing socio-technical problems, including climate change and terrorism, others argue that it is strictly a technical field. The paper presents the results of a discourse analysis of systems engineering textbooks, journal articles, and a qualitative questionnaire administered within the International Council on Systems Engineering United Kingdom Chapter and University College London Centre for Systems Engineering. The analysis finds three parallel accounts of systems engineering in the sampled community. These representations are of systems engineering as something new, as good engineering, and as a meta-methodology. The three distinct discourses of systems engineering diverge on its concept, origin, scope, role, training, epistemological positions, and worldview. The paper shows that claims for and against the wider applicability of systems engineering techniques to complex socio-technical problems not only chart alternative courses for the future of the field but are also grounded in particular constructions of its origins, practices and worldview. While this brings circumspection to the recent rise to prominence of systems engineering within broader engineering discussion and debate, it also provides an opportunity for reflexivity within the field as it responds to demands for integrated solutions to complex socio-technical problems

Systems engineering in commercial and government organizations

Systems engineering (SE) practitioners in research and development (R&D) projects have much general but little specific guidance to manage them. Previous research in SE has contributed to growing advice on tailoring SE efforts given particular project characteristics. This study bolsters this effort by comparing, contrasting, and exploring interactions between commercial and government project risks, success, and SE processes. Demographic company and project information provide insight into commercial and government populations of interest. Coupled with distributed team member interactions, a clearer context for discussing results and conclusions is achieved. Commercial and government projects prove to be principally similar, yet appreciably unique

“Systems engineering influences on projects and the systems engineering workforce

This research was an investigation into the influences systems engineering has on projects and the systems engineering workforce conditions. It focussed on all industries that have projects and utilised the systems engineering process in South Africa. The research examined the knowledge and understanding of the workforce in the systems engineering domain and some of the specific functions of systems engineering that add value to projects. The constraints the organisation and the workforce experience with regard to culture, resources, management support and systems thinking were also investigated. The research methodology followed a deductive reasoning approach. The most suitable strategy, given the crosssectional time horizon, was a monomethod survey. This was represented with a quantitative questionnaire and nonprobability sampling techniques. Respondents i.e. project managers, engineers and clients from related organisations, were invited to participate. The results revealed that the systems engineering was fairly new field in the South African environment. Although respondents understood the basic concept of systems engineering, they were uncertain of the actual functions of systems engineering. There was clear indication that skills shortages existed. Respondents were willing to learn and the organisation could do more to develop the systems engineering field.Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010.Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)unrestricte

Interpreting "Systems Architecting"

The UK Chapter of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE UK) has commissioned research to illustrate the variety of usage of the terms architecture and architecting in the systems engineering community. These terms, though widely used, are rarely strictly defined, and the meaning attributed to the terms is not consistent even in formal publications. Using soft systems methodology, this research has analysed three published sources (MODAF, The Art of Systems Architecting by Maier and Rechtin, and ISO/IEC 42010), and conducted a series of interviews with systems architecting practitioners. Twelve contentious questions in systems architecting are discussed, and six perspectives on systems architecting presented, including three basic worldviews of the relationship between systems engineering and systems architecting. One model sees systems architecting as simply a rebranding of systems engineering to broaden its appeal with no change in content. Another model sees systems engineering restricted to its traditional processes, with systems architecting adding to systems engineering through external processes. The final model, and the most popular amongst the systems engineering community, sees systems architecting addressing shortcomings in traditional sequential lifecycle models by stretching the content of systems engineering to include new elements under the banner of systems architecting

Design and integrity of deterministic system architectures.

Architectures represented by system construction 'building block' components and interrelationships provide the structural form. This thesis addresses processes, procedures and methods that support system design synthesis and specifically the determination of the integrity of candidate architectural structures. Particular emphasis is given to the structural representation of system architectures, their consistency and functional quantification. It is a design imperative that a hierarchically decomposed structure maintains compatibility and consistency between the functional and realisation solutions. Complex systems are normally simplified by the use of hierarchical decomposition so that lower level components are precisely defined and simpler than higher-level components. To enable such systems to be reconstructed from their components, the hierarchical construction must provide vertical intra-relationship consistency, horizontal interrelationship consistency, and inter-component functional consistency. Firstly, a modified process design model is proposed that incorporates the generic structural representation of system architectures. Secondly, a system architecture design knowledge domain is proposed that enables viewpoint evaluations to be aggregated into a coherent set of domains that are both necessary and sufficient to determine the integrity of system architectures. Thirdly, four methods of structural analysis are proposed to assure the integrity of the architecture. The first enables the structural compatibility between the 'building blocks' that provide the emergent functional properties and implementation solution properties to be determined. The second enables the compatibility of the functional causality structure and the implementation causality structure to be determined. The third method provides a graphical representation of architectural structures. The fourth method uses the graphical form of structural representation to provide a technique that enables quantitative estimation of performance estimates of emergent properties for large scale or complex architectural structures. These methods have been combined into a procedure of formal design. This is a design process that, if rigorously executed, meets the requirements for reconstructability

Factors Affecting Systems Engineering Rigor in Launch Vehicle Organizations

Systems engineering is a methodical multi-disciplinary approach to design, build, and operate complex systems. Launch vehicles are considered by many extremely complex systems that have greatly impacted where the systems engineering industry is today. Launch vehicles are used to transport payloads from the ground to a location in space. Satellites launched by launch vehicles can range from commercial communications to national security payloads. Satellite costs can range from a few million dollars to billions of dollars. Prior research suggests that lack of systems engineering rigor as one of the leading contributors to launch vehicle failures. A launch vehicle failure could have economic, societal, scientific, and national security impacts. This is why it is critical to understand the factors that affect systems engineering rigor in U.S. launch vehicle organizations. The current research examined organizational factors that influence systems engineering rigor in launch vehicle organizations. This study examined the effects of the factors of systems engineering culture and systems engineering support on systems engineering rigor. Particularly, the effects of top management support, organizational commitment, systems engineering support, and value of systems engineering were examined. This research study also analyzed the mediating role of systems engineering support between top management support and systems engineering rigor, as well as between organizational commitment and systems engineering rigor. A quantitative approach was used for this. Data for the study was collected via survey instrument. A total of 203 people in various systems engineering roles in launch vehicle organizations throughout the United States voluntarily participated. Each latent construct of the study was validated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the relationships between the variables of the study. The IBM SPSS Amos 25 software was used to analyze the CFA and SEM

The effectiveness of the organization’s system design management process and the applicability and benefits of concurrent engineering

Abstract: There are various and numerous SEM practices that have been established and published in literature. Thereby, the difficulty in designing engineering solutions does not just arise from simply the technical complexity but also in the managerial complexity necessary to manage the interactions between the different engineering disciplines. The main objective of this minor research dissertation was to understand the nonperformance of the organization’s SEM model and whether concurrent engineering can be considered as an alternative to the organization’s current SEM model. In order to understand the non-performance, three (3) questions together with their hypothesis and null hypothesis were posed. The first question was to see how the current SEM model compares with industry best practice. A review of the organization’s SEM model together supporting documentation such as engineering policy, instruction manuals and procedures revealed that the organization’s SEM model compares very well with best practice...M.Phil. (Engineering Management

Managing Accessibility: A Case Study at the University of Waterloo

This study examined how a quality management system, which includes a crowdsourcing application, could improve accessibility. As a result this research captured the interactions a person with impairment has with the built environment they encounter and how those experiences are facilitated. No person should be denied access to quality of life enhancing services based on ability. Currently, however, there is a deficient focus on accessibility. Despite legislative advancements, much of North America’s current infrastructure and facilities predate accessibility law. While standards regulate accessibility, current building codes offer few contemporary methods for improving accessibility beyond basic guidelines. In that regard, a quality management framework could provide attention and incremental improvement to accessibility. This case study analyzed connections between people and accessibility at the University of Waterloo. Qualitative methods allowed meaning to emerge from key informant interviews. Secondary sources revealed how university operations function. Observations provided data that illustrated effective or ineffective accessibility. Investigation was not limited to the physical provision of access. It included an inquiry of the patterns, behaviors, and mechanics of providing accessibility. Naturally, accessibility was not the only field where potential improvements were delayed or precluded because of systems concerns. For good environmental practice, the manufacturing industry’s reaction to environmental concerns led to the increased use of environmental management systems (EMS) that were based on quality management frameworks. ISO-14001 is an extensive EMS focused on improving quality, which manages tangible inputs (legal compliance, auditing, or reporting) to a larger less tangible concept (environmental conservation). Similarly, accessibility could benefit from recurrent managerial improvements that would identify, manage, and report barriers for improvement. The aspects of ISO-14001 can be adapted for improving accessibility. Based on the findings, management systems are not used to provide accessibility on campus. While there are no major barriers to impede a person from their educational pursuits, there are some limitations that affect equal opportunities for people with disabilities. Often the limitations remain unchanged. New construction of facilities affords opportunity for improved access. Existing procedures do not give accessibility the attention needed for regular improvements. A quality-based management system would incorporate the aspects of accessibility to gain incremental refinements. Including the crowdsourcing application would provide valuable feedback to assist the process