Amira Sharon

Project management vs. systems engineering management: A practitioners' view on integrating the project and product domains

While most Systems Engineering Management (SEM) applications use some subset of traditional Project Management (PM) methods and tools, the actual practice of systems engineering management involves continuous cognitive zigzagging between systems engineering—the product domain—and project management—the project domain. Focusing on seven PM methods, we examine two research questions regarding systems engineering practitioners: (1) While conducting SEM, do they perceive a notion of a project domain, a product domain, and a combined project-product domain? (2) What is the extent to which, and ways by which, systems engineering practitioners deem PM methods as effective for supporting SEM? Using analysis of structured questionnaires among 24 participants, we verified that project and product are indeed viewed as two complementary facets of SEM, and that certain PM methods address both domains better than others with respect to particular examined factors.

Improving Project–Product Lifecycle Management with Model–Based Design Structure Matrix: A joint project management and systems engineering approach

We investigate potential benefits of employing the Design Structure Matrix (DSM) in the context of Model–Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) for the purposes of analyzing and improving the design of a product–project ensemble. Focusing on process DSM, we present an algorithm for a bidirectional transformation framework between a product–project system model and its corresponding Model–Based DSM (MDSM). Using Object–Process Methodology (OPM) as the underlying modeling language, we examine and characterize useful and insightful relationships between the system model and its MDSM. An unmanned aerial vehicle case study demonstrates the semantics of and analogy between various types of relationships as they are reflected in both the OPM system model and the MDSM derived from it. We conclude with further research direction on showing how clustering of DSM processes can be reflected back as an improvement of the OPM model.

A Model-Based Approach for Planning Work Breakdown Structures of Complex Systems Projects

Abstract Planning the development efforts within large-scale projects is a highly complex mission due to uncertainties regarding different aspects of the product to be delivered. Current planning practices employ a host of methods for project planning, with Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) being a prominent one of them. Using WBS, the deliverable—the end product to be delivered, its components, and associated enabling products—are often induced implicitly. Using a running example of an unmanned aerial vehicle, we review the WBS method and discuss problems stemming from the lack of explicit and direct representation of the product facet in the project plan. Based on this observation, we apply the Project-Product Lifecycle Management (PPLM) approach as an exclusive source of the various enhanced project management tools, which are views of the model. WBS, the focus of this paper, is one of these views. Like the other views, our WBS version is augmented with product-related information gleaned from the common underlying model.

A Project–Product Model–Based Approach to Planning Work Breakdown Structures of Complex System Projects

Project planning practices employ various methods at various stages, with work breakdown structure (WBS) being a prominent starting point. Using WBS, the components and associated enabling products are often not explicitly expressed. We first introduce the notions of generic project construct and system build. Using a running example of a simplified unmanned aerial vehicle, we review the WBS method and discuss problems stemming from the lack of explicit and direct representation of the product facet in the project plan. A comprehensive project-product life cycle management model is the exclusive authoritative source for deriving project management tools, including WBS, augmented with product-related information.

Towards a Unified Product and Project Lifecycle Model (PPLM) for Systems Engineering

Developing and sustaining complex systems requires collaboration of multidisciplinary teams, coordination of processes, methods and tools, allocation of resources and utilization of adequate facilities within enterprises. The system engineering management comprises three intertwined domains: the product, the project and the enterprise. Despite the obvious links between them, each is carried out using its distinct ontology and toolset. This conceptual separation hinders effective handling of the project and product lifecycle activities within the enterprise. Testing activities of complex products are focused on verifying the performance of increasingly large modules, from software and hardware components, through subassemblies to the entire operational system. What needs to be developed, tested, and delivered is determined by the product requirements, its functions, architecture, components, and their interactions. When each component should and can be developed and tested is determined by the project plan, which is dynamically re-estimated, re-evaluated, and re-planned depending on different parameters such as the project actual status compared with the plan, recourses availability, risks, technological breakthroughs or other impacting issues. Whether carrying out the development mission is feasible is determined by the responsible enterprise, its size, structure, management criteria, other projects running in parallel, commitments, and many other aspects. This paper introduces a unified project-product lifecycle management framework that attempts to address the problems cause by separating the product from the project that is supposed to deliver it within the executing enterprise.Copyright

Integrating the Project with the Product for Applied Systems Engineering Management

Abstract Systems engineering planning and control are the essentials of systems engineering management. While the project management is concerned with such concepts as tasks, milestones, and budget, systems engineering is concerned with the product, requirements is needs to meet, its architecture, and its performance. In spite of the clear difference in the ontology used, both managers and engineers are equally required in order for the project-product ensemble to succeed. This underlines the need for a language and model as common bases for communication between managers and engineers. Based on this observation, we propose Project-Product Lifecycle Management (PPLM) as a combined model-based approach for planning project-product ensembles. Utilizing Object Process Methodology (OPM), the PPLM model integrates the project domain with the product domain via shared ontology that explicitly relates project to product entities within a unifying frame of reference.

Model-Based Project-Product Lifecycle Management and Gantt Chart Models: A Comparative Study

Systems engineering (SE) and project management (PM) are two complementary disciplines that aim at achieving a common goal. In order for systems engineers and project managers to communicate efficiently, there is a need for a common language that balances system performance, quality, stakeholder expectations and needs, cost, and schedule. We use Object Process Methodology (OPM) as the basis for Project-Product Lifecycle Management (PPLM), where SE and PM are complementary parts of an overarching system. Since the project plan is one of the first artifacts that both SE and PM professionals should agree on, we compared Gantt chart, a commonly used method, and a PPLM project plan. We present a three-stage comparative research, investigating how differences between a Gantt chart and an OPM model-based PPLM project plan are perceived by mid-career systems engineers, who were graduate students in systems engineering academic programs. The outcomes indicate that the comprehension of information contained in the OPM model-based PPLM project plan is more easily grasped than the same information presented via the Gantt chart. The results suggest that PPLM has the potential to better clarify the intricate relationships between SE and PM involved in developing systems through projects. It can enable better understanding and communication between systems engineers and project managers, thereby improving decision-making, project outcomes, and product performance.