Investigating the frustrations in managing and engineering defense system-of systems

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with understanding the question on why, for several decades, engineers and project managers were experiencing similar frustrations when engineering and managing systems-of-systems despite various technological and organizational efforts. The first objective of this thesis is to identify the common frustrations in the area of System-of-Systems operations, management and system engineering. A second objective is to understand the systemic causes of these frustrations using different system engineering methods and tools. A series of interviews with mid-career experts from different disciplines were conducted in order to capture expert knowledge. Half of them were end-users from U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) while the other half represented the defense industry. A total of twelve common themes were observed: Technical Challenges: 1) Poor Requirements Engineering, 2) High Complexity and Magnitude of SoS, 3) Complex Stakeholder Management, 4) Evolving SoS Requirements. Management 'Pain Points': 5) Lack of Strong Leadership, 6) Misalignment between Industry & End-users, 7) Unstable Budget Environment, 8) Limited Information Available, 9) Information Compartmentalization. 10) High Turnover Rate Organizational Influences: 11) Excessive Bureaucracy, 12) Risk Avoidance Culture. By applying causal loop analysis and comparing the findings against current literature, a total of seven insights are identified: 1) Adopting Systems Thinking Perspective, 2) Understanding impact of Upstream Decisions, 3) Balancing Engineering and Politics, 4) Aligning Stakeholders, 5) Identifying gaps in Communication and Knowledge Management, 6) Understanding that workarounds may result in Technical Debt, 7) Understanding the Defense Culture, The thesis concludes with discussions on the seven insights as well as possible areas for future research. The author hopes that insights from this thesis will be used to develop guidance and advice for SoS engineering in future.