6
Systems Integration Management
Engineering practices reflect advances in technology to satisfy the demands
for products. This situation is quite similar to other fields that have a goal
to satisfy, a problem to solve, or a need to fulfill. There are stakeholders
whose requirements are expected to be met, procedures that are set up and
followed, and results that are measured in some fashion. According to the
Oxford English Dictionary, something devised or contrived for bringing about
some end or result is defined as a project (1290 AD). The view that the project
is a social structure that results in questions, investigating, questioning,
studying, examining, and building things is the focal point for systems
engineering management. “An engineering project starts because of a
social need for particular service” (Gosling 1962).
The process of performing management has been described as achieving
objectives by influencing others (MacKenzie 1969, 1988). The processes of
management have been variously described (Steiner 1969; Kerzner 2009) and
are often thought of as the means of systems engineering to carry out its
tasks. Similarly, systems integration requires a form of management that
guides the workers according to a set of processes. While the “to manage”
process can be broken down into many subprocesses, this presentation uses
“to plan,” “to organize,” “to direct” (or “to command”), “to control,” “to communicate,” and “to team-build.” The convention used in this text signifies
processes by double quotation marks, in contrast to the single quotation
mark used to indicate a function. These six processes (and their respective
decomposed subprocesses) adequately represent all the major processes
carried out as part of management. Within these six processes* of “to manage,”
the many other subprocesses that make up the first-tier decomposition of the
six major processes (listed above) are meant to be independent of each other
and concomitantly their respective decompositions into lower-level processes are meant to be each hierarchically structured to reveal more detail,
while maintaining that same independence. The top-level decomposition of
“to manage” is shown in Figure 6.1 and the detailed structure of “to manage”
is outlined in Appendix 1.
It is particularly important in performing systems integration work to distinguish carefully between individual process and individual functions.
Combining, mixing, aggregating, or otherwise erasing the atomic nature of
* An alternative view of management is to describe the roles taken on by the people on a project.
“A role is an organizational identity that defines a set of allowable actions for an authorized
user” (Jansen 1998).
283
Systems Integration Management
Engineering practices reflect advances in technology to satisfy the demands
for products. This situation is quite similar to other fields that have a goal
to satisfy, a problem to solve, or a need to fulfill. There are stakeholders
whose requirements are expected to be met, procedures that are set up and
followed, and results that are measured in some fashion. According to the
Oxford English Dictionary, something devised or contrived for bringing about
some end or result is defined as a project (1290 AD). The view that the project
is a social structure that results in questions, investigating, questioning,
studying, examining, and building things is the focal point for systems
engineering management. “An engineering project starts because of a
social need for particular service” (Gosling 1962).
The process of performing management has been described as achieving
objectives by influencing others (MacKenzie 1969, 1988). The processes of
management have been variously described (Steiner 1969; Kerzner 2009) and
are often thought of as the means of systems engineering to carry out its
tasks. Similarly, systems integration requires a form of management that
guides the workers according to a set of processes. While the “to manage”
process can be broken down into many subprocesses, this presentation uses
“to plan,” “to organize,” “to direct” (or “to command”), “to control,” “to communicate,” and “to team-build.” The convention used in this text signifies
processes by double quotation marks, in contrast to the single quotation
mark used to indicate a function. These six processes (and their respective
decomposed subprocesses) adequately represent all the major processes
carried out as part of management. Within these six processes* of “to manage,”
the many other subprocesses that make up the first-tier decomposition of the
six major processes (listed above) are meant to be independent of each other
and concomitantly their respective decompositions into lower-level processes are meant to be each hierarchically structured to reveal more detail,
while maintaining that same independence. The top-level decomposition of
“to manage” is shown in Figure 6.1 and the detailed structure of “to manage”
is outlined in Appendix 1.
It is particularly important in performing systems integration work to distinguish carefully between individual process and individual functions.
Combining, mixing, aggregating, or otherwise erasing the atomic nature of
* An alternative view of management is to describe the roles taken on by the people on a project.
“A role is an organizational identity that defines a set of allowable actions for an authorized
user” (Jansen 1998).
283