Empirical Research on Systems Thinking and Practice in the Engineering Enterprise

Abstract

Abstract. The paper discusses recent and ongoing research on engineering systems thinking and practices within the Engineering Systems Division at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. . The research seeks to impact the effectiveness of systems engineering in modern enterprises through development of new empirical-based knowledge related to systems thinking and practice in engineering. The paper will discuss research progress and outcomes to date as they apply to improving the effectiveness of systems engineering practice and competency development in industry, government and academia. The research involves highly collaborative engagement, use of grounded theory methods, and both quantitative and qualitative analysis.The challenges and lessons learned in performing research of this nature and applying non-traditional methods in systems engineering research are discussed.

Systems Thinking as an Emergent Team Property: Ongoing research into the enablers and barriers to team-level systems thinking

“…As part of an overall research program of systems engineering in the enterprise [15], this research is providing grounded empirical knowledge toward enabling a science of systems engineering.…”

“…Referred to in [15], recent research has focused on differentiating and defining what is sometimes referred to as engineering systems thinking. These efforts recognize the social and technical components of engineering systems thinking [9,16].…”

“…The pilot interviews did show an overwhelming consensus that culture and process are well chosen venues through which to explore collaborative systems thinking. A complete summary of plot interview results is provided in [15].…”

A systems-of-systems perspective on healthcare: Insights from two multi-method exploratory cases of leading UK and US hospitals

“…Similarly, Rhodes [17] states that there is an urgent need for empirical studies of an exploratory nature so as to obtain preliminary findings, heuristics, and researchable hypotheses towards attaining more effective systems engineering practices.…”

Anticipatory capacity: Leveraging model-based approaches to design systems for dynamic futures

“…For organizations to establish anticipatory capacity, new competencies are needed, [8] including: 1. Ability to think deeply about systems in their context or environment.…”