Foreword
Poor program performance for large complex systems is an all too frequent outcome in defense, aerospace, civil infrastructure, shipbuilding and many other domains. Although many programs are executed effectively, those that aren't slip months to years to decades behind schedule, overrun budgets by millions or billions of dollars, and become public black eyes. Often there are multiple interacting causes for poor program performance—for example change of key leaders, optimistic technology forecasts, inexperienced workforce, or politics. Yet study after study concludes that ineffective system engineering is a leading or contributing cause for almost every poorly performing program. For the past several decades there have been multiple and constant pleas to improve effectiveness of system engineering.
What have been the responses and how effective have they been? Universities, industry, and military organizations have launched system engineering training courses, undergraduate and graduate degrees, and certification programs. The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) has become established as the professional society for systems engineering. Its many working groups are communities of practice for systems engineers. Organizations have established high level system engineer leadership positions to bring management attention and priority to this aspect of their operations. Research efforts have been funded to devise new approaches or better understand the practice ...
