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Integration in Systems Engineering Context
From a systems point of view, a stakeholder is an object of the system.
A system is a set of objects that are either dependent or independent but yet
interacting pair-wise—temporally or physically—to achieve a purpose.
Likewise the objects that interact with other objects outside the system form
the boundary of the system and are “boundary” objects. Objects that only
interact with other system objects (and have no interactions outside the system) are “internal” objects. Both internal and boundary objects are system
objects. Boundary objects are also objects in the system with which they interact. These definitions include both the permanent and episodic interactions
among objects of a system, systems of systems, or a system of systems. Thus,
the lasting and occasional interactions, as well as emergent properties and
behaviors of a system, are driven by the object within the system that are
driven through their EMMI from both other internal objects as well as external objects. These interactions result in the transfer of EMMI. The transfer of
EMMI can result in various behaviors, for example, cooperative, competitive,
enhancing, enabling, destructive, and degrading.
Complexity
Complexity, scope, and extents underlie the challenge of detecting, engaging, and integrating stakeholder issues into phases of the lifecycle of the system. Complexity stresses the constructs of systems engineering practices
and modern management techniques. Complex systems have a great variety
of interactions, which transcends physical, information, and social interfaces.
The system complexity thus augments the management challenge because of
the large number and various types of system elements and stakeholders. In
this book, complexity is reflected by the number and types of interactions
that lead to integration of the elements of a system or among the systems of
a system of systems. Since an element of a system may also be or represent a
stakeholder of the system, increasing the number of stakeholders increases
the complexity. Managing complexity or managing stakeholders thus
amounts to managing the value and the worth activation function, and
therefore the number of interactions.
For issues that have numerous, multiplicatively tortuous boundaries (i.e.,
physical, functional, and behavioral) and complicated boundary conditions,
systems engineering seems to be the only discipline that has the tools and
methods to deal with the issues that we herein define as complex. Complexity
has been said to be an important concept, perhaps as important as the concept of a system (Klir 2001). Since a great number of books, scholarly works,
and musings have been offered by ponders of complexity and its implications, there is not much more to say about the subject of complexity. It would
seem that complexity should be simple, rather than complex. The reason for