Systems Engineering Management - Coursework Example

Systems Engineering Management System engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the design and management of large and complex projects during their life cycles. This involves a series of activities that together make the development of such project a success (Chang, 31). Developing large projects is a very complex process that requires proper management. In a bid to help make large project development work a success, system engineering management became a very indispensable discipline. However, systems engineering management is not a walk in the park. The are a number of challenges that affect the decision making in systems engineering ranging from social, political, economic and business management issues. Below we take an analytical look at each of these engineering decisions and technological choices. Since every management issues involve decision making, systems engineering management is not exempted. Social factors affecting engineering decisions and technological choices Social factors are things that affect and influence our lifestyle in a given manner. Since there is a conceptual framework and cycle concept, decisiveness is a factor that must be observed in order to overcome these challenges. In the field of engineering and project management these factors play a very vital role in decision making as discussed below. Poverty – Decision making is vital to every society regardless of its social status. Technology being a very vital aspect of our livelihood makes it further critical in decision making. However poverty leads to urgency of acquiring something. This implies that one is likely to set for something that is substandard. Third world countries, where poverty rates are so high, have always suffered when in comes to technological choices. Emergence of new technology is always accepted without a second thought. This may lead to wrong decision making since little is done to assess the impact of such technology before it’s put into use thus leading to even acceptance of obsolete technology.( Parnell et.al.,29) Education- Use of technology requires certain level of literacy. Lack of proper education makes one very gullible and submissive to others opinions on what is good or bad with respect to technology. As opposed to people with proper education, the illiterate in the society have the inferiority complex that make the feel that their little knowledge cannot allow them make right decisions. However, those with good education always tend to make informed decisions even without necessarily being a luminary in that field. People with poor education have always suffered as a result of relying on decisions make by the learned, which may be based on self satisfaction rather than common benefit. Religion and belief- Majority of the population of the society belongs to a certain religion and belief. However, religions believe in divergent doctrines that may lead to acceptance or rejection of certain technologies. Their belief in different things leads to several ethical issues. These ethical issues influence decision making in both direct and indirect ways. Some religions permit certain things that others do not. This means that a technological choice may be valid in one religion and unaccepted in the other. For instance, a pornography video may go against the ethics of a Christian but auger well with a non-believer. Community policy- Different communities live under the custodianship of certain policies that differ from one community to another. This implies that a community policy may limit your technological choice certain things thus denying you the opportunity to make decisions. For instance, a community may deem it unethical for children to watch television thus making it a policy. This means any technological decision regarding televisions must be given a second thought before implementing it. Political issues affecting technological choices and engineering decisions government policy- every nation has some level of governance. Different governments have different policies regarding the use of technology within its territories. A casing point is the ban of twitter use in Turkey yesterday. The people of Turkey will be forced to bid farewell to twitter. Some governments do not allow unconditional use of technology, something common amongst the dictatorial regimes. These dictators tend to deny the people access to information so that they can continue with their oppressive deeds with minimal opposition. A decision maker in such nations is restricted to certain technological decisions to make. (Fort Belvoir,98)This is a very big impediment to the engineering sector that forms the major building block of technology. This means that one has to make a compromise when dealing with such banned technologies. Stability of government- A stable government offers a good platform for technological implementations. A government may perceive certain technologies to be a threat it its existence. This may prompt it to take hostile measures towards such technologies. An instable government is entangled around some mythical feeling of insecurity.( Baguley,47) This may make them feel that free access to technology posses a great danger thus take adverse measures the use of such technology. However, a stable lives with minimal fear but with an urge of breeding a better tomorrow. This means that it does all within its capacity to allow remittance of technologies by creating favorable policies. Diplomatic Relationships – A strained diplomatic relationship may affect technological decisions in both direct and indirect ways. When there is a strenuous relationship between two countries, foreign investors from those countries may opt to withdraw their technological investments. If an investor from a country with which you have a strained relationship has an intellectual property rights over certain technologies highly valued by your people, they may opt to deny your country access to such technology thus impacting negatively on your country. However, a good diplomatic ties between nations offers free access to technology. Economic issues affecting technological choices and engineering decisions Economic policy- These are terms of trade that govern economic investments in a country. Unfavorable terms of trade may make it difficult for one to undertake technological investments. These may include cost of setting up a technology in a particular nation, the percentage of shares to hold in a company and the activities to undertake. Return on Investment – technological investment is just like any other business venture. It is undertaken with a major motive of yield a profitable return among other things. Before one ventures into an investment economic assessment must be undertaken to determine whether it’s a viable investment. If a technological investment is found to have no lucrative returns, a decision may be made against it. If it’s economically viable then it can be thumbed up. State of economy Some technological investments are so expensive for a nation to venture into. If an investment is going to render a nation economically insatiable then it may not be permitted. A good investment must take into account the state of economy. Some can leave a nation bankrupt if there is poor state of economy. Business management issues affecting technological choices . Management of a business forms the core part of systems engineering. This will therefore that a good management can make good decisions. Personnel qualification- A highly qualified personnel will definitely make decisions that will be profitable to the project management team. Unqualified personnel may prove incompetent. How managers use systems engineering process to account for these issues These factors give project managers a benchmark for assessing large and projects. These challenges help a project manager in planning for the project as well evaluating it.( Eisner & Howard,74) Once these factors are put into account it becomes a little easily to know how and when to plan for these projects. It also makes it easy to evaluate the project during and after its development. In accounting for these issues, managers must plan well and only initiate projects that conform to various aspects of societal issues. How these issues affect engineering design, development and test decisionsSince these issues influence various aspects of decision making from planning to the implementation of these projects it must have both direct and indirect effect on design, development and even testing of the project. Policy issues may affect the project implementation in certain areas thus affecting the entire development decision. Lessons Learned The lesson that comes out is the dependence of project management on economic, social and political issues. Also a successful systems engineering must conform to ethical issues in the society. Work Cited Baguley, Phil. Project management. New ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. Print. Chang, C. M.. Service systems management and engineering: creating strategic differentiation and operational excellence. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2010. Print. Eisner, Howard. Essentials of project and systems engineering management. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley, 2002. Print. Parnell, Gergory S., Patrick J. Driscoll, and Dale L. Henderson. Decision making in systems engineering and management. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley-Interscience, 2008. Print. Systems engineering management guide. 2nd ed. Fort Belvoir, Va.: The College ;, 1987. Print. Read More