Difference between revisions of "Enabling Businesses and Enterprises"

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*Finally, [[Culture]] describes the knowledge about how does the culture of a business affect SE;  e.g., a risk-averse business will likely use plan-driven SE processes; an entrepreneurial fast-pace business will likely use agile SE processes (See [[Life Cycle Models]]).
 
*Finally, [[Culture]] describes the knowledge about how does the culture of a business affect SE;  e.g., a risk-averse business will likely use plan-driven SE processes; an entrepreneurial fast-pace business will likely use agile SE processes (See [[Life Cycle Models]]).
  
To some extent, these topics have some of the character of a "plan-do-check-act" cycle (Deming 1994), where the "do" part of the cycle is performing SE using the techniques described in Part 3: [[Systems Engineering and Management]]. For example, if assessing the business' SE performance shows shortfalls, then additional SE capabilities may need to be developed, the organization may need to be adjusted, processes may need to be improved, etc., all working within the existing cultural norms.  If those norms prevent the business from successfully performing SE, then transformational efforts to change the culture may be needed as well.
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To some extent, these topics have the character of a "plan-do-check-act" cycle (Deming 1994), where the "do" part of the cycle is performing SE using the techniques described in Part 3: [[Systems Engineering and Management]]. For example, if assessing the business' SE performance shows shortfalls, then additional SE capabilities may need to be developed, the organization may need to be adjusted, processes may need to be improved, etc., all working within the existing cultural norms.  If those norms prevent the business from successfully performing SE, then transformational efforts to change the culture may be needed as well.
  
 
== Goals, Measures and Alignment in a Business ==
 
== Goals, Measures and Alignment in a Business ==

Revision as of 16:53, 6 August 2012

Part 5 on Enabling Systems Engineering explores how systems engineering (SE) is enabled at three levels of an organization: the business or enterprise (hereafter usually just called "business" as a shorthand because a business is a specific type of enterprise that has sufficiently strong central authority and motivation to take steps to effectively enable SE. See Enabling Systems Engineering for more on this.), the team, and individuals. The Enabling Businesses and Enterprises to Perform Systems Engineering Knowledge Area describes the knowledge to enable SE at the top level of the organization. Part 3 Systems Engineering and Management describes how to perform SE once it has been enabled using the techniques described in Part 5. A business is itself a system and can benefit from being viewed that way. (See Enterprise Systems Engineering in Part 4.)

To download a PDF of all of Part 5 (including this knowledge area), please click here.

Topics

This knowledge area contains the following topics:

Relationship Among Topics

To some extent, these topics have the character of a "plan-do-check-act" cycle (Deming 1994), where the "do" part of the cycle is performing SE using the techniques described in Part 3: Systems Engineering and Management. For example, if assessing the business' SE performance shows shortfalls, then additional SE capabilities may need to be developed, the organization may need to be adjusted, processes may need to be improved, etc., all working within the existing cultural norms. If those norms prevent the business from successfully performing SE, then transformational efforts to change the culture may be needed as well.

Goals, Measures and Alignment in a Business

The alignment of goals and measures within the business strongly affects the effectiveness of the SE effort, and the benefit delivered by SE to the business, and needs to be carefully understood. For example:

  • (Blockley, D. and P. Godfrey. 2000) describes techniques used successfully to deliver a major infrastructure contract on time and within budget, in an industry normally plagued by adversarial behavior.
  • Lean thinking (Womack and Jones 2003; Oppenheim et al. 2010) provides a powerful technique for aligning purpose to customer value – provided the enterprise boundary is chosen correctly and considers the whole value stream.
  • (Fasser, Y. and Brettner, D. 2002, 18-19) sees an organization as a system, and advocate three principles for organizational design: “increasing value for the ultimate customer”, “strict discipline”, and “simplicity”.
  • EIA 632 (EIA 1999) advocates managing all the aspects required for through-life cycle success of each element of the system as an integrated “building block”. Similarly, (Blockley 2010) suggests that taking a holistic view of “a system as a process” allows a more coherent and more successful approach to organization and system design, considering each element both as part of a bigger system of interest and as a “whole system” (a “holon”) in its own right.
  • (Elliott et al. 2007) advocates six guiding principles for making systems that work: “debate, define, revise and pursue the purpose”; “think holistic”; "follow a systematic procedure”; "be creative”; "take account of the people”; and “manage the project and the relationships."

References

Works Cited

ANSI/EIA. 2003. Processes for Engineering a System. Philadelphia, PA, USA: American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/Electronic Industries Association (EIA). ANSI/EIA 632‐1998.

Blockley,D. and Godfrey, P. 2000. Doing It Differently – Systems For Rethinking Construction. London, UK: Thomas Telford, Ltd.

Deming, W.E. 1994. The New Economics. Cambridge, MA, USA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Centre for Advanced Educational Services.

Elliott, C. et al. 2007. Creating Systems That Work – Principles of Engineering Systems for The 21st Century. London, UK: Royal Academy of Engineering. Accessed September 2, 2011. Available at http://www.raeng.org.uk/education/vps/pdf/RAE_Systems_Report.pdf .

Fasser, Y. and D. Brettner. 2002. Management for Quality in High-Technology Enterprises. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons-Interscience.

Farncombe, A. and H. Woodcock. 2009. "Enabling Systems Engineering". Z-2 Guide, Issue 2.0. Somerset, UK: INCOSE UK Chapter. March, 2009. Accessed September 2, 2011. Available at http://www.incoseonline.org.uk/Documents/zGuides/Z2_Enabling_SE.pdf.

Farncombe, A. and H. Woodcock 2009. "Why Invest in Systems Engineering". Z-3 Guide, Issue 3.0. Somerset, UK: INCOSE UK Chapter. March 2009. Accessed September 2, 2011. Available at http://www.incoseonline.org.uk/Documents/zGuides/Z3_Why_invest_in_SE.pdf.

Oppenheim, B., E.M. Murman, D.A. Secor. 2010. Lean Enablers for Systems Engineering. Systems Engineering. 14(1): 29-55. Accessed on September 14, 2011. Available at http://cse.lmu.edu/Assets/Lean+Enablers.pdf.

Womack, J. and D. Jones. 2003. Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, Revised Edition. New York, NY, USA: Simon & Schuster.

Primary References

Blockley,D. and Godfrey, P. 2000. Doing It Differently – Systems for Rethinking Construction. London, UK: Thomas Telford, Ltd.

Elliott, C. et al. 2007. Creating Systems That Work – Principles of Engineering Systems for The 21st Century. London, UK: Royal Academy of Engineering. Accessed September 2, 2011. Available at http://www.raeng.org.uk/education/vps/pdf/RAE_Systems_Report.pdf.

Additional References

INCOSE. 2011. Systems Engineering Handbook: A Guide for System Life Cycle Processes and Activities, version 3.2.1. San Diego, CA, USA: International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), INCOSE-TP-2003-002-03.2.1.

ISO/IEC 2008. Systems and Software Engineering -- System Life Cycle Processes. Geneva, Switzerland: International Organisation for Standardisation / International Electrotechnical Commissions. ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2008.


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