The relationship among systems engineers' capacity for engineering systems thinking,project types,and project success

In recent years, systems engineering and Project Management Bodies of Knowledge have been rapidly growing. However, despite the vast amount of literature available on systems engineering and project management, about two‐thirds of all projects still fail. A review of both project management and systems engineering publications reveals that most of these works focus on processes. We suggest focusing on people—project managers and systems engineers. One of our previous studies dealt with project managers; this article focuses on systems engineers. This article presents findings of a study aimed at exploring the relationship among systems engineers' capacity for engineering systems thinking (CEST), project types, and project success. The instrument used in this study was a self‐report questionnaire, composed of three parts. The first part assessed the participants' CEST, the second part assessed several measures of project success, and the third part assessed four dimensions of project type. The simple random sampling method was used, and the sample included 114 senior systems engineers who were randomly selected from the sampling frame. The study findings show that there is a statistically significant correlation between CEST and project success. The extent of the project's novelty, complexity, and technological uncertainty are moderator variables that affect this correlation.     

基于互生理念的系统工程创新教学模式研究

系统工程是一门综合性、交叉性、实践性非常突出的学科。针对系统工程课程的目的与教学内容,以培养学生的创新思维为目标,文章提出了基于互生理念的系统工程课程创新教学模式。在这个理念指导下,将给教师和学生提供一个引发思考、发现自我的教与学的平台。互生理念是在学生、教师、环境三个要素相互依存、互生互动的情景下产生的,创新教学的实现和创新人才的培养需要借助这样一个互生链条得以实现。通过教学目标设计的创新与教学环节的创新,从而培养出一大批具有批判性思维和系统思维的创新型人才。     

Urban Infrastructure,Imagination and Politics: from the Networked Metropolis to the Smart City

This article argues for the importance of social imagination in the understanding of urban infrastructures, especially those designed and built by engineers. It begins by defining social imagination as image‐based systems of representation and values that are shared by various collective stakeholders concerned with infrastructure, such as engineers, but also politicians, administrators, operators, maintenance technicians and indeed users, and then introduces a tripartite model of infrastructure. Infrastructure is interpreted as the result of the interactions between a material basis, professional organizations and stabilized socio‐technical practices, and social imagination. The notion of network is interpreted from such a perspective. Its dependence on imagination is outlined. Through two case studies, the nineteenth‐century networked metropolis, epitomized by Haussmann's Paris, and the rise of the contemporary smart city perspective, the role of social imagination in the conception of urban infrastructure is analyzed further. What seems at stake in the transition towards the smart city is the increased importance given to occurrences, events and scenarios as the basis for urban infrastructure regulation.     

Creating social and environmental value through integrated thinking: International evidence

Integrated thinking (IT) is a managerial mindset increasingly discussed in the context of value creation. Through the lens of systems theory, this study examines how the degree to which IT is embedded in a firm's strategy and day-to-day business processes is associated with the firm's social and environmental value creation. Using a broad international dataset, we find strong evidence that our measure of IT is positively related to a firm's sustainability performance (SP), which we use to operationalize social and environmental value creation (or erosion). Our results also reveal that the increase in a firm's SP might come at the cost of a short-term decrease in financial performance (FP). We find no indication, however, that IT induces a trade-off between SP and long-term FP. Integrated thinking appears to stipulate long-term financial value creation instead. We further explore moderating factors within the organizational and institutional context of our sample firms and highlight implications for society, corporate practice, and policymaking.     

Development of smart nursing homes using systems engineering methodologies in industry 4.0

ABSTRACT

As aged population grows and health informatics advances dramatically, smart nursing homes equipped with electronic devices and intelligent systems turn into a hotspot. In this paper we propose an iterative and life-cycle development process based on the Vee model in Systems Engineering. Some tools like the house of quality matrix are introduced to continuously identify, allocate and refine requirements from elder residents, engineers, and other stakeholders. The development model proposed highlights the synchronization development of cyber phsical system with the smart nursing home. Furthermore, a agent-based simulation is implemented to illustrate feasibility and applicability of our work.     

A Holistic View on Learning in Project‐Based Organizations

Although researchers have over the years highlighted the importance of managing and supporting learning in project‐based settings, it still seems to be problematic. New project management capabilities are needed, such as systems thinking, which will allow project‐based organizations to better cope with learning in the organizations. This article explores how Swedish project‐based organizations within an engineering and construction context manage and support learning activities today and discusses, with the support of process management literature, how an “organizational‐wide project learning process” could improve the prerequisites for learning in project‐based organizations. Our findings from three project‐based organizations indicate a lack of a holistic perspective on project learning. A conceptual model is proposed, with the aim of validating and promoting process thinking by introducing, for example, new roles responsible for intra‐ and inter‐project learning, respectively.     

STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT AS A SOCIAL PROCESS

This article argues that the development of strategy in organizations will be more effective if it is seen as predominantly a social rather than analytical process. Using the notion of organizations as negotiated order, it is suggested that designed Group Decision Support Systems can play an important role in facilitating the negotiation of strategy. Six ‘support systems’are discussed, and the implication is that planners might see themselves as facilitators managing both ‘socially negotiated order’and ‘negotiated social order'.     

Statistical Thinking in Empirical Enquiry

This paper discusses the thought processes involved in statistical problem solving in the broad sense from problem formulation to conclusions. It draws on the literature and in-depth interviews with statistics students and practising statisticians aimed at uncovering their statistical reasoning processes. From these interviews, a four-dimensional framework has been identified for statistical thinking in empirical enquiry. It includes an investigative cycle, an interrogative cycle, types of thinking and dispositions. We have begun to characterise these processes through models that can be used as a basis for thinking tools or frameworks for the enhancement of problem-solving. Tools of this form would complement the mathematical models used in analysis and address areas of the process of statistical investigation that the mathematical models do not, particularly areas requiring the synthesis of problem-contextual and statistical understanding. The central element of published definitions of statistical thinking is "variation". We further discuss the role of variation in the statistical conception of real-world problems, including the search for causes.     

Job transfers and job-bid systems in restructuring Japanese and American firms

When Japanese firms restructured their operations in the 1990s, Japanese employees were not fired and were often transferred together in groups inside firms or to related outside firms. Undergoing similar business restructuring from the late 1980s on, American firms fired low-performing white-collar employees, and excess midoodle-performing white-collar employees were fired if they could not locate other jobs in the firms by using 'job-bid' systems (systems that identifyopenings and allow individuals at their own choosing to 'bid' for those openings). American unionized blue-collar workers were laid off based on seniority rules. Although similar job-bid systems were introduced into Japanese firms in the 1990s, they were used only for certain white-collar jobs. In the United States, job-bid systems commonly were used for both blue- and white-collar employees. Overall, the Japanese employment system was characterized by management control and stable employment in contrast to the active role played by individual choice in an environment of unstable employment in the United States.     

思维树模型及系统思维的培养

本文从人的思维偏差的几种表现形式说起,阐述系统思维的重要性。接着提出思维树模型方法,借以探讨训练系统思维能力和培养系统思维习惯的方法。最后在系统整体性、动态性和结构性特性的启发下,提出几个利用系统思维思考问题的观点。     

MANAGEMENT CONTROL: THE ROLES OF RULES,MARKETS AND CULTURE[1]

This paper addresses the question of efficacy of Management Control Systems in organizations. It shows that control systems are based on a combination of three underlying approaches — markets, rules and culture — in order to obtain desired behaviours from organizations’ members. These three approaches are then discussed in terms of Hofstede's work-related values characterization. It is shown that each firm or organization defines its own balance among the three bases of control identified above. This balancing is dynamic and organizations must continuously adapt their Management Control Systems to changes in the overall culture(s), in technology and in the competitive forces. The general evolution of Management Control Systems is seen to be towards a lessening of the importance of rules-based controls and towards an increased reliance on controls imbedded in the organizational culture. ^{[2] [2]} We are grateful to Kavasseri V. Ramanathan, Richard B. Peterson, Jeremy Dent, to the participants of the EIASM ‘Accounting and Culture’ Workshop, and to Geert Hofstede for their advice, encouragement and cogent criticism. Financial Support of the Accounting Development Fund at the University of Washington is gratefully acknowledged.
     

Giving to get loyalty: How organizations signal their loyalty to employees

Organizations are currently struggling to attract and retain human capital. The Pandemic and economy have a fueled reduction in numbers of participants in the workforce. The effect has been many employers struggling with fewer employees then they would like and need to successfully execute their business strategy. Most observers believe that a combination of low pay, a lack of workplace flexibility, poor opportunities, and benefits, have led to this large-scale labor unrest. Understanding how organizations can earn employee loyalty is more critical than ever. This article presents practical ideas for how organizations can earn employee loyalty from reviewing responses from 54 working graduate students and a review of loyalty research to provide actions organizations can take within jobs, co-workers, supervisors, and organizational policy to earn employee loyalty. As well this article provides checklists that organizational leaders can use as starting points for thinking about what they might do to signal their loyalty to employees. These checklists can also be used to engage employees in conversations about what is most important to them and discover what employees expect from their organizations as a fair trade for their loyalty.     

The importance of trust in software engineers' assessment and choice of information sources

Engineers such as systems developers get most of their information from colleagues and internal reports. In the literature on engineers' information-seeking practices the generally agreed-upon explanation of this preference for close-by, internal information sources is that engineers follow a principle of least effort by choosing their information sources on the basis of ease of access rather than quality of contents. This study argues that engineers' preference for internal sources such as their colleagues is just as much a preference for sources with a known or easily determinable trustworthiness as it is a preference for information that is easily accessible. Trust is of central importance because quality is a perceived property and, thus, assessing the quality of an information source is essentially a matter of establishing to what extent one is willing to place trust in it. This can be done with greater ease and precision for familiar sources. A field study of the meetings in a software design project shows that in discussing and selecting information sources the software engineers devote significantly more attention to quality-related factors than to cost-related factors. It is also normal conversational practice at the meetings to accompany the mentioning of information sources that may be unknown to some project participants by information that puts them in context. Systems for managing knowledge and sharing expertise must recognise these rich means of forming a perception of the credibility of individual pieces of information.     

系统工程教学中数学思维能力的培养

从系统工程对数学思维能力的需求出发,结合系统工程综合性强、系统性高、条理性弱的特点,在分析当代大学生数学思维能力现状的基础上,探究了系统工程教学中培养大学生数学思维能力的主要对策,即夯实数学理论基础、注重数学思想引导、强化数学思维模式,从而通过系统工程的教学使大学生的数学思维能力得到有效的培养。     

High involvement management,high-performance work systems and well-being

Studies on the impact of high-performance work systems on employees' well-being are emerging but the underlying theory remains weak. This paper attempts to develop theory of the effects on well-being of four dimensions of high-performance work systems: enriched jobs, high involvement management, employee voice, and motivational supports. Hypothesized associations are tested using multilevel models and data from Britain's Workplace Employment Relations Survey of 2004 (WERS2004). Results show that enriched jobs are positively associated with both measures of well-being: job satisfaction and anxiety–contentment. Voice is positively associated with job satisfaction, and motivational supports with neither measure. The results for high involvement management are not as predicted because it increases anxiety and is independent of job satisfaction.     

Compensation as a signal of organizational culture: the effects of advertising individual or collective incentives

Beyond their impact on current employees, compensation systems are thought to convey important messages about an organization's values and practices to potential hires, but explicit empirical support for this belief is scant. In two experiments, US participants evaluated recruiting advertisements containing simple statements about bonuses, with performance basis manipulated between-subjects in the first experiment and within-subjects in the second. Advertising bonuses based on individual performance caused an organization to be perceived as likely to have a more individualist culture, whereas bonuses based on team or organizational performance led to perceptions of a more collectivist culture. When participants in the second study were asked to choose between hypothetical jobs at organizations with different advertised compensation systems, the relation between individual differences and job preference was contingent on their organizational culture perceptions. In contrast to previous research, no modal preference for individual over collective rewards was observed.     

PROBLEM-SOLUTIONS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS EXPERTISE

This article uses evidence on the management of Information Systems (IS) expertise to critique conventional understandings of the management of expert groups. These tend to focus on problems of ‘integration’ or ‘control’ at the point of production. But this neglects the interplay between organizations and the wider structure of IS expertise; the latter being shaped by the evolving computer technology regime and the IS occupation's ability to colonize technological knowledge. In this context, the management of expertise is better viewed as an evolving series of ‘problem-solutions’. ‘Hybrid managers’ and ‘strategic information systems’ are cited as instances of such problem-solutions.     

Exploring the Relationship Between Rework Projects and Risk Indicators

When projects fail to adequately meet requirements, organizations are forced to either abandon the project or to initiate a new project to address the original project requirements. Because the organization already has experience with and exposure to many project details, it is possible that the second attempt to address the original requirements (a rework project) will create different challenges for the project team. The purpose of this study was to examine risk indicators for rework projects and to determine whether or not risk indicators were the same or different for rework projects. A risk indicator is a factor that has predictive power about the likelihood of a risk occurring in the course of a project's life cycle. The projects studied for this research were undertaken by a large engineering design organization. The results show that there are some important differences in the types of risk indicators experienced by project managers and project teams in rework projects. Specifically, the risks associated with project urgency, quality, and technological changes were more common in rework projects. By understanding and attending to these differences in rework project risks, project managers will be better equipped to successfully guide rework projects to completion.     

系统思想在工业园区道路景观规划设计中的应用——以重庆石柱县工业园区道路景观规划设计为例

文章介绍了工业园的概念和系统思想及系统工程的方法,同时把系统分析的原则引入重庆石柱县工业园区道路景观规划设计这一实例,阐明了将系统思想及系统工程的方法贯穿于工业园区道路景观设计流程全过程的意义。     

Conduct of Conduits: Engineering,Desire and Government through the Enclosure and Exposure of Urban Water

This article scrutinizes the relationship between governmental reform and infrastructural change in Singapore. Focusing on the role of engineers, it is argued that neoliberal decentralization has occurred through the physical reconfiguration of drainage. Neoliberalization is conceived as a localized technical response to a public health crisis resulting from infrastructural enclosure, which is orchestrated on and through the material‐ecological environment. A closed drainage system consisting of trapezoidal canals and concrete culverts had produced an ideal breeding environment for dengue‐carrying mosquitoes, undermining the state's centralized approach to water governance. This article reorients Michel Foucault's analytics of government around engineering and the ‘milieu’ to consider how drainage infrastructure was consequently opened up to an emerging civil society to relieve pressure on the state and allow greater public participation in the surveillance and management of canals, pipes and culverts. Alongside landscape architects, engineers would increasingly turn to naturalized waterways and open catchment policy to encourage citizens to form an affective bond with water and to inculcate principles of individual ownership and responsibility through physical contact. The article contends that with the proliferation of integrated resource management systems, governmental power is increasingly exercised through the liveliness as well as the fetishization of urban infrastructure.