Implementing Systems Engineering in Civil Engineering Consulting Firm: An Evaluation

Abstract

This study explores the challenges that civil engineering consulting firms face in their projects when they apply Systems Engineering (SE). It is also explained were these firms should focus when improving the use of SE. To conduct this study, the methodology of Eisenhardt (Building theories from case study research, Acad Manage Rev 14 [1989], 532-550) for building theory from case study research is used. The extent, to which SE is applied, is assessed in six civil engineering projects, using a newly developed framework containing an extensive list of questions about how and why SE was applied. Based on this assessment, it is shown that there are three major reasons why SE was not applied to the full extent. First, SE procedures and responsibilities were not always clearly established and communicated to team members. Second, team members were in a learning process and did not yet possess all the SE knowledge and skills required. Finally, there was a lack of a demanding client to enforce the use of SE. This paper also presents recommendations for improving the application of SE in projects, related to methods, skills, and the client. Further research should focus on different (kinds of) companies within the civil engineering industry.

Exploring Team Effectiveness in Systems Engineering Construction Projects: Explanations Why Some SE Teams Are More Effective than Others

“…The importance of knowledge and skills to improve SE practices is mentioned in SE literature as well (Sheard et al ., ; Bonnema et al ., ; Van Nederveen et al ., 2008; Bhasin et al ., ; Godfrey et al ., ; De Graaf et al ., ; De Graaf et al ., ). For example, in their article on SE process improvement, Sheard et al .…”

“…De Graaf et al . () also found that in projects carried out by an engineering consulting firm, SE tasks were carried out inadequately because team members had not been given enough training. This, in turn, was due to the time pressure of the project.…”

“…More recently, it gets increasing attention in the civil engineering industry too. For example, SE in this industry is addressed in academia (Gusakov et al ., ; Elliott et al ., ; Blockley, ; Van der Meer et al ., ; De Graaf et al ., ; De Graaf et al ., ) and in practice (Doukas, ; Godau, ; Williams et al ., ; U.S. Department of Transportation, ; Aslaksen et al ., ; Rijkswaterstaat et al ., ; Crow, ). Moreover, public clients in the civil engineering industry increasingly use SE too.…”

Life Cycle Consulting of Engineering Construction Risk Evaluation Based Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets and Euclidean Similarity

“…First, the five risk management objectives of "safety, quality, construction period, cost, and environment" are used as the evaluation criterion layer, and then the risk factors are identified to establish the evaluation index layer. The specific methods are as follows: (1) Systematically sort out the whole process engineering consulting cases and related research documents [6][7][8], and analyze the construction accidents that have occurred in recent years; (2) Combining the analysis results, according to the "Technical Standards for Engineering Consulting Services for the Whole Process of Housing Construction and Municipal Infrastructure Construction Projects" (draft for comments), from the survey, Design, bidding, procurement, and supervision to extract the main risk factors that affect the life cycle consulting of engineering construction. (3) Through questionnaire surveys, collect opinions on risk factors from experts in the construction, design, and consulting fields of the construction industry.…”

Successful verification of subcontracted work in the construction industry

“…For example, the magazine “INSIGHT” has published a special issue on infrastructure SE, including articles on the civil engineering industry . Handbooks and guidelines have also appeared in the past 15 years, such as the “Guide for the Application of SE in Large Infrastructure Projects,” the guidebook on SE in the civil engineering industry in The Netherlands, and the “Systems Engineering Guidebook for Intelligent Transportation Systems.” Moreover, articles have been published in which the use of SE in specific civil engineering projects is discussed . Finally, SE in the civil engineering industry is considered in relation to education and training and procurement .…”