Integrating Program Management and Systems Engineering

5KEY CONCEPTS IN INTEGRATION

5.1 Introduction

The previous chapters discussed unproductive tension between program management and systems engineering as a natural outcome of differences between the two disciplines, and a core challenge to program success. They also showed that organizations with greater levels of integration between these two disciplines exhibited dramatically lower levels of unproductive tension. Integration also plays an important role in program performance beyond just unproductive tension, which will be discussed in greater depth in subsequent chapters. However, up to this point the understanding of integration remains relatively superficial.

This chapter takes a closer look at the concept and meaning of integration. It explores integration between program management and systems engineering from multiple perspectives. It uses evidence from the research to explore what this type of integration looks like in practice, including from the practitioner's perspective. This leads to a formal definition of integration that will be used throughout the rest of the book.

5.2 Assessing Integration between Disciplines

The Phase I study of program managers and chief systems engineers explored the state of integration between program management and systems engineering. That study was exploratory and its objective was to better understand how the program management and systems engineering disciplines are integrated within organizations. The exploratory study would eventually ...