System Engineering Management, 5th Edition

Chapter 7Organization for System Engineering

The initial planning for system engineering commences during the early stages of conceptual design and evolves through the development of the System Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) described in Chapter 6. To implement this plan successfully requires an organizational structure that will promote, support, and generally enhance the application of system engineering principles and concepts. The proper organizational environment must be created that will allow for the accomplishment of system engineering requirements in an effective and efficient manner—that is, the implementation of a top-down, life-cycle-oriented, integrated approach in system design and development. In addition, the organization must be dynamic in response to the many changes that are taking place worldwide.

Figure 6.1 (Chapter 6) shows two sides of the spectrum: the technology issues that can be applied to enhance and facilitate the implementation of the system engineering process and the management issues that are necessary to meet the objectives in this area. Inherent in this overall spectrum is the organizational element.

Organization is the combining of resources in such a manner as to fulfill a certain need. Organizations constitute groups of individuals of varying levels of expertise, combined in a social structure of some form to accomplish one or more functions. Organizational structures vary with the functions to be performed, and the results will depend ...