Systems Engineering Commons^™

A Theory Of Emergence And Entropy In Systems Of Systems, John J. Johnson Iv, Andreas Tolk, Andres Sousa-Poza

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Systems of Systems (SOS) meet vital needs in our society by providing capabilities that are not possible by their discrete components or subsystems. Some SOS are engineered to produce predictable results, yet they can still display emergent behavior. These behaviors are often considered negative because they are not a function of the design. However, emergent behavior can also be serendipitous and produce unexpected positive results. The authors formalize a theory of emergence based on entropy. The theory has explanatory value for emergence as an ontological and phenomenological concept in systems of systems. © 2013 The Authors.

Determining Stakeholder Influence Using Input-Output Modeling, Patrick T. Hester, Kevin Macg. Adams

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Stakeholders are a vital element in all complex systems problems. They are customers, users, clients, suppliers, employees, and team members. They fund the system, design it, build it, operate it, use it, maintain it, and dispose of it. While many approaches exist for classifying and determining their attitudes, these approaches stop short of evaluating stakeholders in a holistic manner. This paper closes this research gap by developing the metric of stakeholder situation influence, a measure which allows for quantitative evaluation of stakeholder influence on a given problem. This measure is derived from Leontief Input-Output analysis. The developed approach extends previous …

Thinking Systemically About Complex Systems, Patrick T. Hester, Kevin Macg. Adams

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

As machine age problems have given way to systems age messes, the underlying complexity associated with understanding these situations has increased exponentially. Accordingly, the methods we use to address these situations must evolve as well. Unfortunately, many antiquated methods for dealing with situations remain prominent. Systems engineering, traditionally, is the practical application of procedural problem solving, typically geared toward the acquisition of large-scale systems. The underlying paradigm for solving these problems can be characterized as systematic thinking. While quite appropriate for machine age problems, this approach lacks the theoretical rigor to deal with systems age messes. Thus, a new paradigm …

The Role Of Team Preparation Processes And Task Conflict On Virtual Team Performance, Pilar Pazos, Ana María Canto

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to increase our understanding of the factors contributing to team performance in global virtual teams. We report on a study on global virtual teams involved on applied projects in industry. Team members differed in location and nationalities. This paper examines the relationships between goal commitment, planning and conflict. Data were collected from 34 teams in an international Master program in Quality Management, Safety and Environmental Impact hosted in Bolivia and Chile. Students were from nine different countries in South America. Students were assigned to teams of size 3 and participated in 15-week project as …

The Enterprise Aid Methodology: Concepts, Thomas J. Meyers, Patrick T. Hester

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The Enterprise AID − for assessment, improvement, and design − methodology is a systems science-, operational test and evaluation-, and multicriteria decision analysis-based approach to design and deployment of performance measurement systems (PMSs) tailored to specific enterprises pursuing any or all of enterprise assessment, improvement, or design. Its two phases of design and deployment sprang from designers’ inductively generated and now prototyped response to a gap they recognized between performance measurement capabilities required by contemporary enterprises and those offered by contemporary PMSs. This paper illustrates key concepts underlying AID, while a companion document, The Enterprise AID methodology: Application, draws from …

The Root Cause Of Failure In Complex It Projects: Complexity Itself, Kaitlynn M. Whitney, Charles B. Daniels

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Increased demand for better technology and perpetual global expansion continue to provide developers with many project opportunities for success, as well as failure. While no industry is immune from project failure, the Information Technology (IT) industry is shown to be more susceptible to risk and failure than those of other industries. Agile project management, which facilitates adaptation to changing circumstances and alleviates rigid formal controls, has become more popular in the software development industry though is not entirely compatible with traditional project management approaches.In this paper we will examine the primary causes of IT project management failure stated in modern …

Reference Modelling In Support Of M&S—Foundations And Applications, Andreas Tolk, Saikou Diallo, Jose Padilla, H. Herencia-Zapana

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Whether by design or by practice, systems engineering (SE) processes are used more and more often in Modeling and Simulation (M&S). While the two disciplines are very close, there are some differences that must be taken into account in order to successfully reuse practices from one community to another. In this paper, we introduce the M&S System Development Framework (MS-SDF) that unifies SE and M&S processes. The MS-SDF comprises the SE processes of requirements capture, conceptual modelling, and verification and validation (V&V), and extends them to M&S. We use model theory as a deductive apparatus in order to develop the …

Employing Learning To Improve The Performance Of Meta-Raps, Fatemah Al-Duoli, Ghaith Rabadi

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

In their search for satisfactory solutions to complex combinatorial problems, metaheuristics methods are expected to intelligently explore the solution space. Various forms of memory have been used to achieve this goal and improve the performance of metaheuristics, which warranted the development of the Adaptive Memory Programming (AMP) framework [1]. This paper follows this framework by integrating Machine Learning (ML) concepts into metaheuristics as a way to guide metaheuristics while searching for solutions. The target metaheuristic method is Meta-heuristic for Randomized Priority Search (Meta-RaPS). Similar to most metaheuristics, Meta-RaPS consists of construction and improvement phases. Randomness coupled with a greedy heuristic …

Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division Engagement Systems (G) Department Development Of A Plan To Maintain, Expand, And Create Corporate Knowledge, Luis J. Rodriguez

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation presents the implementation of an organizational study in a technical organization that provides basic information for proper decision making to establish, continue, nurture, modify, transfer or terminate a Knowledge Management (KM) practice. Different aspects of an organization influence the capability to create and retain knowledge. Understanding the factors and the environment of the KM problem in an organization is essential for a successful plan and execution of knowledge creation, transfer and retention. The study purpose was to describe the contextual situation of the organization in terms of Human, Structural and Relational Capital; identify critical knowledge for the organization …

System Governance Analysis Of Complex Systems, Behnido Y. Calida

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to develop and deploy a systems-based framework for analysis of complex governance systems using a multimethodology research design. Two research gaps motivated this research: (1) lack of an integrated conceptualization of a system governance construct, (2) an absence of studies that consider both the governed and governing systems as well as the emergent interactions that arise from within complex governance systems.

The research focused on three primary questions: (1) What are the distinctive characteristics of governance?; (2) What system-based framework can be developed for analysis of governance in complex systems?, and (3) What results …

The Factors Behind A Successful Implementation Of Electronic Health Records Systems, Anjee Gorkhali

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This research explores the role that budget for Information System (IS) and technical expertise of healthcare service provider staff play on the successful leap from a partial to exhaustive implementation of Electronic Health Records (EHR) Systems. Technical expertise in Information Systems might not be easily measurable directly, but there are a number of indicators that could be used as a proxy, such as: Information System (IS) Department Budget, number of IS staff and the extent of technical trainings provided by the IS department to the clinical staff. This research study hypothesizes that quality technical trainings conducted by an IS department …

A Unified Enterprise-Wide Cost Modeling Framework For Engineering Applications Based On Systems Engineering Principles, Yousuf S. Mohammed

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In the present research the problem of enterprise-wide cost modeling is approached from a systems engineering standpoint. What this does is to use each stage of product life cycle to obtain useful information that helps in estimating the cost of the system. Once a generic framework is developed for estimating the core cost, layers of other factors that affect the cost are applied to the core cost, such as risk and uncertainty, maintainability, supply-chain and socioeconomic conditions. The cost model is expanded to accommodate a product domain ranging from a simple object to a system in the following hierarchy: System, …

Evaluating Network Analysis And Agent Based Modeling For Investigating The Stability Of Commercial Air Carrier Schedules, Sheila Ruth Conway

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

For a number of years, the United States Federal Government has been formulating the Next Generation Air Transportation System plans for National Airspace System improvement. These improvements attempt to address air transportation holistically, but often address individual improvements in one arena such as ground or in-flight equipment.

In fact, air transportation system designers have had only limited success using traditional Operations Research and parametric modeling approaches in their analyses of innovative operations. They need a systemic methodology for modeling of safety-critical infrastructure that is comprehensive, objective, and sufficiently concrete, yet simple enough to be deployed with reasonable investment. The methodology …

Rq-Tech, A Strategic-Level Approach For Conceptualizing Enterprise Architectures, Christine A. Hoyland

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to present a system-theoretic based methodology and corresponding model for Enterprise Architecture development. Enterprise Architecture models can assist managers by illustrating the systemic relationships of their business and the impact their decisions can make. Unfortunately, today's modeling practices are proprietary, time-consuming, and generally ineffective as tools for communicating strategic-level planning across and down all levels of the enterprise. This research explored the most significant factors that must be considered when translating authoritative text and rich pictures of business doctrine into semantic models. An ontology, namely RQ-Tech, was used to parse and tag representative samples …

An Analysis Of Factors Affecting The Effective Use Of Knowledge Management In Counter Improvised Explosive Device (C-Ied) Operations, Umit Gencer, Rafael E. Landaeta, Resit Unal, C. Ariel Pinto, Gokay Sursal

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Improvised Explosive Device (IED) is a weapon of choice and is likely to remain a major component of the Global War on Terrorism. It is critical that gaps in knowledge transfer are quickly addressed in order to more effectively equip personnel to counter IED (C-IED) threat. Therefore, the military must analyze the current Knowledge Management (KM) programs in C-IED arena in order to maximize transfer of knowledge derived from experience and skill to staffs and finally to commanders. This study investigates the factors that influence effective use of KM in C-IED operations in the military. The study suggests that effective …

Editorial: International Journal Of Critical Infrastructures, Holly Ann Heine Handley, C. Ariel Pinto, Adrian V. Gheorghe

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) This special issue of the International Journal of Critical Infrastructures is a compilation of the papers presented at the Fourth Annual Conference on Next Generation Infrastructures held in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in November, 2011. This conference was sponsored by Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, USA and by the Next Generation Infrastructures Foundation, Delft, The Netherlands. The participants travelled from around the globe to converse about ideas that address both concerns for the present and optimism for the future of critical infrastructures. The conference, held in the USA for the first time, provided a platform for vibrant discussions on …

Colonel Blotto Games And Lancaster's Equations: A Novel Military Modeling Combination, Andrew Collins, Patrick T. Hester

VMASC Publications

Military strategists face a difficult task when engaged in a battle against an adversarial force. They have to predict both what tactics their opponent will employ and the outcomes of any resultant conflicts in order to make the best decision about their actions. Game theory has been the dominant technique used by analysts to investigate the possible actions that an enemy will employ. Traditional game theory can be augmented by use of Lanchester equations, a set of differential equations used to determine the outcome of a conflict. This paper demonstrates a novel combination of game theory and Lanchester equations using …

Epistemic Uncertainty Analysis: An Approach Using Expert Judgment And Evidential Credibility, Patrick Hester

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

When dealing with complex systems, all decision making occurs under some level of uncertainty. This is due to the physical attributes of the system being analyzed, the environment in which the system operates, and the individuals which operate the system. Techniques for decision making that rely on traditional probability theory have been extensively pursued to incorporate these inherent aleatory uncertainties. However, complex problems also typically include epistemic uncertainties that result from lack of knowledge. These problems are fundamentally different and cannot be addressed in the same fashion. In these instances, decision makers typically use subject matter expert judgment to assist …

Identification And Implementation Of Patterns Towards A Model Of Environmental Sustainability, S. Jimmy Gandhi, Santiago Perez, Danial Rushton, Robert Cloutier, Ipek Bozkurt, C. Ariel Pinto

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Much like the Quality Revolution did in the 1980's, corporate sustainability has the potential to drive significant changes in the processes and structure of various organizations in the coming decade. With a rapidly growing global population and an ever increasing global demand for resources (Population-Resource-Center, 2012). Sustainability has emerged as one of the primary challenges that organizations will have to deal with in the 21st century. An increasing realization among business executives that profitability by itself is not enough as a measure of success is also driving the increased adoption of sustainable practices in the corporate world (Lowitt and Grimsley, …

Research Methodologies: A Look At The Underlying Philosophical Foundations Of Research, Nathapon Siangchokyoo, Andres Sousa-Poza

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Quantitative and qualitative research methodologies have had their greatest share of debates dating back to the 1970s. Researchers have long argued over the underlying philosophical features between the two methodologies and their ability to derive knowledge (Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2005, Sale, Lohfeld, & Brazil, 2002; Powell, Mihalas, Onwuegbuzie, Suldo and Daley, 2008; Sechrest and Sidani, 1995). More recently, modern researchers have argued that the integration of quantitative and qualitative methods into a single methodology (known simply as mixed methods research) allows researchers to answer questions otherwise unobtainable (Carey, 1993). The emergence of mixed methods research has gained increasing popularities in …

A Human View Model For Socio-Technical Interactions, Holly A. H. Handley, Andreas Tolk

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The Human View was developed as an additional architectural viewpoint to focus on the human part of a system. The Human View can be used to collect and organize data in order to understand how human operators interact and impact the other elements of a system. This framework can also be used to develop a model to describe how humans interact with each other in network enabled systems. These socio-technical interactions form the foundation of the emerging area of Human Interoperability. Human Interoperability strives to understand the relationships required between human operators that impact collaboration across networked environments, including the …

Modeling And Evaluating Role And Team Work Processes Using The Improved Performance Research And Integration Tool, Holly A. H. Handley, Pilar Pazos

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The Human View architecture was designed to capture the human requirements of a system and to answer questions about the interactions between humans and systems. Data captured in the Human View can be used to populate a simulation model to evaluate the performance of the humans interacting in a work process. The work process model can be used to investigate different types of human system analyses, at both the role and team levels, and to identify the appropriate metrics to evaluate the results. This study examined individual role performance using the metrics readily available in the simulation tool, and then …

On Critical Infrastructure Interdependency, Polinpapilinho F. Katina, C. Ariel Pinto

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Developing effective protection, mitigation, and recovery measures for critical infrastructure (CI) systems is paramount in the wake of increasing natural and manmade hazards, risks, and threats. Influencing protection, rescue, and recovery measures are interplays (i.e., interdependencies) among infrastructure systems. Understanding interdependencies plays an essential role in minimizing and reducing cascading failures among complex interdependent infrastructure systems. This paper asserts that deployment of protection, mitigation, and recovery solutions can have little effect on infrastructure management if infrastructure operators and policymakers have partial understanding of infrastructure interdependencies. Using narrative research, authors illustrate that effective coordination and response for protection, mitigation, and recovery …

A Systemic Approach To Next Generation Infrastructure Data Elicitation And Planning Using Serious Gaming Methods, Ersin Ancel

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Infrastructure systems are vital to the functioning of our society and economy. However, these systems are increasingly complex and are more interdependent than ever, making them difficult to manage. In order to respond to increasing demand, environmental concerns, and natural and man-made threats, infrastructure systems have to adapt and transform. Traditional engineering design approaches and planning tools have proven to be inadequate when planning and managing these complex socio-technical system transitions. The design and implementation of next generation infrastructure systems require holistic methodologies, encompassing organizational and societal aspects in addition to technical factors. In order to do so, a serious …

Towards An Organizational Strategic Vitality Theory: A Study Of A Public Sector Board Of Directors, Keith L. Woodman

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Boards of directors govern practically all organizations of significant size in the public and private sector. Improving the understanding of how boards function is critical because when boards fail, the results can be devastating. Little is understood about the functioning of boards of directors in the public sector, which accounts for a significant amount of the gross national product of the world's economy. The author observed a public sector board of directors for one year. Using the grounded theory research method to analyze the observations, he generated a theory of organizational strategic vitality that describes how a board of directors …

A Structured Project-Risk Management And Life Cycle Framework For Complex Systems: Ship Repair And Maintenance (Sr&M) Projects, Michael Craig Plumb

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation contributes to insights regarding the implications of using Project Risk Management (PRM) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in managing projects for a complex system. The PRM approach apprehends many forms of risk both internal and external within a given project and assists the manager in determining the level of importance of each individual project phase and component to optimize project success. The life cycle approach to project management is used with short-term limitations with respect to a product's life cycle over several years. The literature discusses many tools and techniques that assist project managers in implementing optimal solutions, …

A Method To Improve The Sustainment Of Systems Based On Probability And Consequences, Michael Ashton Gaintner

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The FROST Method is presented which improves the efficiency of long-term sustainment of hardware systems. The FROST Method makes sustainment and scheduling decisions based on the minimization of the expected value of current and future costs. This differs from current methods which tend to base decisions not on the expected value of costs, but on the expected inventory demand found through projections using data which is often inaccurate.

Distributions are used to account for randomness and inaccuracy in inputs such as failure rates and vendor-claimed dates for end of production. A Monte Carlo technique is then used to convert these …

A Hybrid Lehmer Code Genetic Algorithm And Its Application On Traveling Salesman Problems, Jun Zhang

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Traveling Salesman Problems (TSP) is a widely studied combinatorial optimization problem. The goal of the TSP is to find a tour which begins in a specific city, visits each of the remaining cities once and returns to the initial cities such that the objective functions are optimized, typically involving minimizing functions like total distance traveled, total time used or total cost.

Genetic algorithms were first proposed by John Holland (1975). It uses an iterative procedure to find the optimal solutions to optimization problems.

This research proposed a hybrid Lehmer code Genetic Algorithm. To compensate for the weaknesses of traditional genetic …

Ambulatory Healthcare Utilization In The United States: A System Dynamics Approach, Rafael Diaz, Joshua G. Behr, Mandar Tulpule

VMASC Publications

Ambulatory health care needs within the United States are served by a wide range of hospitals, clinics, and private practices. The Emergency Department (ED) functions as an important point of supply for ambulatory healthcare services. Growth in our aging populations as well as changes stemming from broader healthcare reform are expected to continue trend in congestion and increasing demand for ED services. While congestion is, in part, a manifestation of unmatched demand, the state of the alignment between the demand for, and supply of, emergency department services affects quality of care and profitability. The central focus of this research is …

Development Of Risk Uncertainty Factors From Historical Nasa Projects, Tahani R. Amer

EMSE Doctoral Projects

NASA is a good investment of federal funds and strives to provide the best value to the nation. NASA has consistently budgeted to unrealistic cost estimates, which are evident in the cost growth in many of its programs. In this investigation, NASA has been using available uncertainty factors from the Aerospace Corporation, Air Force, and Booz Allen Hamilton to develop projects' risk posture. NASA has no insight into the developmental of these factors and, as demonstrated here, this can lead to unrealistic risks in many NASA Programs and projects (P/p). The primary contribution of this project is the development of …