Alex Gorod

Governance mechanism pillars for systems of systems

Traditional management frameworks that have been applied to governance of systems are no longer effective in the context of systems of systems. To provide an effective governance framework for a system of systems, it is necessary to understand the governance mechanism in its entirety, including its fundamental components, or pillars. The aim of this paper is to provide a framework to analyze the pillars of governance in systems of systems. This framework enables the researchers to study the complexity in the dynamics of interactions. It also provides a tool for modelers to simulate the interactions. Moreover, the framework is intended to facilitate governance of systems of systems for practitioners. Five proposed pillars of the governance mechanism are: (1) purpose integration, (2) belonging regulation, (3) incentivizing device, (4) interactions protocol, and (5) principles dissemination & perception distortion. A simulated model of supply chain demonstrates these five pillars in action within the system of systems context.

A Socio-Physical Approach to Systemic Risk Reduction in Emergency Response and Preparedness

This paper proposes a socio-physical approach that considers jointly the interaction and integration of the social and physical views of a system to improve emergency response and preparedness. This is accomplished through a reduction of systemic risk, which refers to a risk that could be greater than the sum of the risks of the individual system constituents. Using network analysis, it is shown that the explicit socio-physical approach yields meaningful qualitative and quantitative differences when compared with approaches that focus on the social and physical views in isolation. The benefits of this proposed approach are illustrated on a case study using clustering analysis and a proof-of-concept simulation. This new approach leads to systemic risk reduction by enabling a more informed and coordinated response strategy following an incident and a better identification of possible consequences and preparation strategies prior to an incident.

Governance of enterprise transformation: Case study of the FAA NextGen project

In network industries, functional effectiveness of the whole system is dependent on the collaborative effort of all players. However, governing these multitudes of organizations is a complex and challenging task. The objective of this paper is to implement five governance mechanism pillars in system of systems to understand and facilitate this task. The first step is to separate three layers of complexity in network industries. The second step is to present the role of each governance mechanism pillar in governing these complex networks. We applied this approach to the FAA NextGen project, which is the enterprise transformation process of the United States Air Transportation Network.

The International Space Station: Applying system of systems methodology

Societal and technological advancements along with lessons learned from previous projects and space programs resulted in the creation of the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS is an engineering marvel created by a collaboration of 16 International Partners (IPs), space agencies, contractors and sub-contractors whose primary purpose is to conduct research in space for benefit of mankind. However, currently, there are several major challenges relating to the management of the ISS such as budget, time, governance, and collaboration/competition which can hamper the evolution of the ISS and which can potentially lead to the failure of the system. The ISS still primarily relies on traditional systems engineering (SE) methodology which lacks the necessary flexibility to deal with the emergent challenges of the ISS system. This paper proposes applying SoSE to the ISS which we suggest can mitigate these issues and provide a framework for future space research and exploration.

A mathematical model for formulating interdependence of autonomy and belonging in systems of systems

Among different proposed characteristics of a system of systems, autonomy and belonging are widely accepted as definitive. Since these two characteristics were perceived as independent from one another, their underlying relationship has not been explicitly explored by scholars. This paper proposes that autonomy and belonging are interdependent characteristics according to the purpose of a system of systems and its constituent elements. The coherence between the purposes of the constituent elements and the system of systems defines the level of belonging, and the independence of these purposes is conceptualized as autonomy. The mathematical formulation of this interdependence is presented to analyze the correlation between these two characteristics.

A supply network governance framework: a case study of the South Australian mining industry

Purpose The competitiveness of mining regions largely depends on the performance of the regional supply chains that provide services to mining companies. These local supply chains are often highly intertwined and represent a regional supply network for the industry. Individual companies often use supply chain strategies that are sub-optimal to overall supply network performance. To effectively respond to an uncertain business environment, policy-makers and supply chain participants would benefit by a governance framework that would allow to incentivise the formation of supply networks structures enabling effective operations. The purpose of this paper is to offer an empirically grounded conceptual framework based on Complex Adaptive Systems (CASs) governance principles, which links network governance mechanisms with supply network structure and operational performance to incentivise the formation of adaptive and resilient supply networks in the mining industry. Design/methodology/approach A mixed method research design and a case study of the South Australian mining sector were used to collect empirical data. Qualitative interviews and network analysis of the SA mining industry regional supply network structure were conducted. The relationships between network parameters were interpreted using CAS theory. Findings An empirically grounded conceptual framework based on CAS governance principles is developed. The case study revealed that supply chain strategies and governance mechanisms in the SA mining industry have led to the formation of a hierarchical, scale-free structure with insufficient horizontal connectivity which limits the adaptability, responsiveness and resilience of the regional supply network. Research limitations/implications The findings are drawn from a single case study. This limits generalisability of the findings and the proposed framework. Practical implications The proposed framework draws the attention of the policy-makers and supply chain participants towards the need for utilising CAS governance principles to facilitate the formation of adaptive, responsive and resilient regional supply networks in the mining industry. Originality value The proposed conceptual framework is an attempt to parameterise the governance of the regional supply networks in the mining industry.

A multi-paradigm modelling & simulation approach for system of systems engineering: A case study

The process of modelling and simulation (M&S) plays a critical role in system of systems (SoS) engineering, given its ability to capture and visualize the dynamic nature embedded within SoS complexity. While there are multiple M&S paradigms, currently there is limited guidance for selecting the most appropriate one(s) based on the intention of the SoS modeller, which can manifest itself through different “views” of the SoS. This paper examines three such viewssocial physical, and socio-physical-and suggests an approach for matching each view with the most-suitable paradigm(s) in order to better represent the modellers intention. A real-life case study of an emergency-response situation is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the introduced approach.

On the importance and value of case studies

Case studies provide a means for highlighting and extracting practical principles and methods for shaping and accelerating progress in solving wicked real world problems. They inform burgeoning theories such as those associated with complex systems engineering where people are considered part of the system to be conceived, developed, fielded, and operated; or extant systems targeted for improvement upgrades. This paper advocates for the value of case studies and summarizes some important examples. Motivations and ideas for increasing the use of case studies in the worlds most difficult present and future systems engineering environments are suggested.

Developing a system of systems management framework for the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear disaster recovery

Systems are becoming more complex due to uncertainties arising from rapid global technological progress and the growing involvement and interconnectedness of the human factor. Thus new management approaches are needed in order to improve system management effectiveness and efficiency. This research addresses critical issues in management decision-making processes for complex systems, and proposes a System of Systems (SoS) management framework to assist system engineers to assess continuously a complex situation and develop systemic solutions to problems. This paper demonstrates the usefulness of an SOS management framework using modelling and simulation. A case study examines the application of the new approach in the emergency recovery management of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster in Japan. Based on research related to this incident and the recovery efforts following, the paper shows that the SoS approach can have benefits for complex system management, providing flexibility while at the same time retaining the ability to regulate the degree of control of the system.

Systems engineering decision-making: Optimizing and/or satisficing?

Not all systems are the same: consequently they need different management approaches. The varied typology of systems is not always universally recognized. One way in which systems can vary is in terms of complexity; and there is increasing awareness about growing complexity in systems across a number of literature domains. Complexity is now an evolving topic in systems engineering (SE). However, traditional SE has tended to address all systems with the same approach, moving from the premise that activities and their interrelationships are linear and measurable. Recently there has been a paradigm shift in the way systems are understood, with the recognition of their nonlinear and emergent properties. Traditionally optimization has been the primary method of decision-making. When dealing with complexity, true optimization is not always possible: therefore satisficing was introduced. Selecting and applying these two very different approaches is proving to be a challenging task for engineering practitioners. This paper explores SE decision-making in dealing with different types of systems with various degrees of complexity and proposes a decision-making methodology which can assist engineering managers with the selection of optimizing versus satisficing in a given situation or problem space.