Multi-Method Framework for Development of Systemic, Technology-Driven Capability Concepts

Emerging technologies shape the operations of many commercial and military organisations, including the Australian Defence Force. Current capability development processes, grounded in the principles of systems engineering, focus on capability gaps rather than opportunities, often locking in incremental improvements but not transformative changes enabling new capabilities and processes. Furthermore, traditional systems engineering is framed in a way that equates capability with product, leading to single-technology stove-piped processes. By contrast, the study presented in this thesis seeks to design a methodological framework for development of systemic, technology-driven capability concepts that recognise capability as an emergent property of complex systems. The study draws on the body of knowledge in systems thinking and multi-method operations research to design the methodological framework and apply, evaluate and refine it across five concept development workshops within a multi-case study. The study findings support reducing the focus on current processes, use of boundary-mitigating steps to improve generation of ideas, and evolution of technology use cases during concept development. Higher-level, operational concepts are found to be more complex than lower-level tactical concepts; cyclical processes that include resupply produce concepts with higher dynamic complexity. Elicitation of impacts is shaped by the available time and discussion prompts. Importantly, concepts are best framed in terms of capability rather than technology, as capabilities are enabled by multiple interacting technological elements. This is reflected in the novel formalism of technological ecosystem maps, which reframes the discussion of capability options towards capability effects generated by technology groupings. For operations researchers seeking to design real-life interventions, the study demonstrates a traceable process of methodological evolution, with a novel application of boundary critique as the analytical lens for improvement. For capability developers, the study provides a fit-for-purpose methodology for exploring the opportunities presented by emerging technologies, intended to complement the existing capability development processes. The formalism of technological ecosystems lays the groundwork for reframing of capability development towards a more holistic framework, emphasising integration, sustainment, and long-term management of capability elements

Pilot workload and fatigue: A critical survey of concepts and assessment techniques

The principal unresolved issues in conceptualizing and measuring pilot workload and fatigue are discussed. These issues are seen as limiting the development of more useful working concepts and techniques and their application to systems engineering and management activities. A conceptual analysis of pilot workload and fatigue, an overview and critique of approaches to the assessment of these phenomena, and a discussion of current trends in the management of unwanted workload and fatigue effects are presented. Refinements and innovations in assessment methods are recommended for enhancing the practical significance of workload and fatigue studies

The structural transformation of embeddedness

The concept of embeddedness plays a central role in the segment of economic sociology and social theory which is inspired by the works of Karl Polanyi. But to the extent that embeddedness is understood in a substantialist manner, implying the existence of a unitary lifeworld, the desire for embeddedness is an impossible aspiration under modern conditions. Throughout the modern era it is however possible to observe the emergence of complex societal stabilization mechanisms, which serve as substitutes to traditional forms of embeddedness. The emergence of function specific cultures, in the form of, for example, legal, political and scientific cultures, establishing a ‘second nature’ in the Hegelian sense, is one example of this. Other examples are (neo-)corporatist institutions which fulfilled a central stabilising role in classical modernity and the kind of network based governance arrangements which fulfil a similar position in today’s radicalised modernity

The weight of the past: trauma and testimony in Que bom te ver viva

This article examines representations of trauma in Lúcia Murat’s Que bom te ver viva (How Nice to See You Alive, 1989), a semi-documentary focusing on the experiences of former political militants who, like the director herself, were arrested and tortured under Brazil’s military dictatorship. Despite having limited distribution at the time of release, the film has since gained status as one of the most significant representations of State-sanctioned violence during the 1960s and 1970s. It has received renewed attention more recently as Brazil enters a new period of reckoning with human rights crimes committed during the military regime. I first consider elements of trauma theory and their potential for better understanding the ways in which the film establishes connections between individual suffering and the wider socio-political realm. Essential to the film’s understanding of historical trauma are processes of ‘acting out’ and ‘working through’ which I explore along with the need, partially fulfilled in Que bom te ver viva, to create a witness to traumatic events. This is combined with an examination of stylistic strategies. I argue that the film’s flexible and unconventional aesthetics is a crucial means through which it can represent certain experiences associated with trauma and perform a radical re-envisioning of history

Cockpit resource management at USAir

The current USAir CRM program is presented. The lessons learned and the program issues are combined. The training material was developed after an extensive literature search and pilot interview survey to determine the problem. The investigation led to the design, implementation, and evaluation of a behavioral science awareness training program. The need was found, and the target population was identified as the pilot group