Integrating Program Management and Systems Engineering

13INTEGRATION MEANS CHANGE

13.1 Introduction: The Case for Change

Chapter 12 illustrated how effective integration between program management and systems engineering disciplines produces value for the organization, not only in traditional measures of program performance like requirements fulfilment and client satisfaction, but additional tangible benefits that include a more reliable performance with fewer deadline overruns. These changes foster long‐term competitive agility and advantage. When an organization is able to achieve effective program management and systems engineering integration, the benefits are concrete. Integration of disciplines and functions within an organization where it has not previously existed is, however, a transformative change for the organization.

In a dynamic global economy, organizations that are resistant to change often lose ground to those that embrace it. As Jack Welch is reported to have said, “If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near” (Allison, 2014). If your competitors are transforming at a rate that is greater than yours and are reaping the resulting performance benefits, then adopting new ways of managing work becomes an organizational imperative.

An organization, and particularly an organization that employs systems engineers, program managers, project managers, and sophisticated technical experts, is a complex, interdependent network of resources, processes, and technologies that create ...