Managing development projects—The partnership between project managers and systems engineers

Abstract

There are two significant “players” in development projects: the project manager and the systems engineer, both working together in cooperation with the aim of carrying out technical (execution/performance, quality) and managerial (schedule, costs, and customer satisfaction) project goals. The goal of the current study is to identify the management processes shared by project managers and systems engineers in the defense industry, understand which factors influence how joint project management is accomplished and how it impacts meeting project goals, and provide recommendations for joint project management that will lead to project success. The research method was qualitative, based on 16 semistructured interviews with project managers and systems engineers in defense companies that deal with the development of technological systems. The main recommendations for joint project management are: clear distribution of responsibility and delegation of authority between the two professionals before starting the project; choosing a project manager who was once a systems engineer or who possesses engineering knowledge; insistence on an ongoing dialog between the two professionals and solving/preventing conflicts through discussion and persuasion; as well as expanding common ground between the project manager and systems engineers’ areas of responsibility.

Analysis of the project manager's role in the research and development projects

“…Uopšteno posmatrano, projektni menadžer ima odgovornost da zadovolji: potrebe zadatka, potrebe tima i individualne potrebe (Project Management Institute, 2013). Odgovornost projektnog menadžera podrazumeva i ispunjavanje zahteva vezanih za: performanse, troškove i vremenski raspored (Kordova et al, 2018). Svaki istraživačko-razvojni projekat je "nepoznat", a za njegovo sprovođenje potrebna je hrabrost.…”

“…Ta uloga se ne može zanemariti niti minimizirati. Upravljanje projektima podrazumeva: menadžersku ulogu integratora, njegovo razumevanje procesa upravljanja projektima, prilagođavanje konkretnom projektu i obezbeđivanje sprovođenja istog (Kordova et al, 2018). Osnovne uloge svih projektnih menadžera bez obzira na vrstu projekta kojim rukovode odnose se na (Bezak, Nahod, 2011):…”

A game‐theoretic model for resource allocation with deception and defense efforts

“…The resource management in the attacker‐defender game has also increasingly become relevant with the interdisciplinary field of systems engineering. In fact, many systems engineering authors are considering the role of humans in the design and development of complex systems, as well as the broader sociotechnical context of systems . To that end, various game‐theoretic models have been proposed.…”

“…In fact, many systems engineering authors are considering the role of humans in the design and development of complex systems, as well as the broader sociotechnical context of systems. [14][15][16] To that end, various game-theoretic models have been proposed. The theoretical game between players, in this paper, can also be treated as a kind of system-one that calls for increasing attention as such.…”

Risk Management for Defense SoS in a Complex, Dynamic Environment

“…Kordova, Katz, and Frank [39] studied the management processes shared by project managers and systems engineers in the defense industry, and they provided recommendations for joint project management that leads to project success. Figure 3 shows the division of responsibility for risk management between the systems engineer and the project manager, as well as how their efforts mesh.…”