A generalized framework for complex system design and management

Abstract

This thesis outlines a structured framework for complex system design and management. There have been and continue to be many efforts focused on defining the elusive generic System Engineering Process. I suggest one reason why industry, government, and academic efforts have had limited success in defining a generalized process applicable to many contexts, is that the time and logical domains have not been explicitly identified and characterized in distinction. When the logical view is combined with the chronological view, the resulting process becomes application specific. When these are characterized in distinction, the overall framework is preserved. This thesis develops a generalized process that maintains this distinction and is thus applicable to many contexts. The design and management of complex systems involves the execution of technical activities together with managerial activities. Because of the organic connection between these two sets of activities, they must be integrated in order to maximize the potential for success. This integration requires a clear definition of what the system development process is in terms of the technical activities and how they logically interact. The" control logic" thus provided is then used to develop the logical connection between the managerial and technical activities.