The impact of practitioners’ personality traits on their level of systems-thinking skills preferences

Abstract

In this study, we used a structural equation modeling method to investigate the relationship between systems engineers and engineering managers’ Systems-Thinking (ST) skills preferences and their Personality Traits (PTs) in the domain of complex system problems. As organizations operate in more and more turbulent and complex environments, it has become increasingly important to assess the ST skills preferences and PTs of engineers. The current literature lacks studies related to the impact of systems engineers and engineering managers’ PTs on their ST skills preferences, and this study aims to address this gap. A total of 99 engineering managers and 104 systems engineers provided the data to test four hypotheses posed in this study. The results show that the PTs of systems engineers and engineering managers have a positive impact on their level of ST skills preferences and that the education level, the current occupation type, and the managerial experience of the systems engineers and engineering managers moderate the main relationship in the study.

Integrated twitter analysis to distinguish systems thinkers at various levels: a case study of COVID-19

“…Experts and practitioners need to address the increasing challenges of today’s sociotechnical systems while maintaining and elevating their performances under increasing complexities. These challenges include (1) requirement of high level systems integration to serve overarching goals, (2) lack of clarity to allow for decision support and commitment to alternative courses of action, (3) uncertainty caused by incomplete knowledge of systems and the unintended consequences, and (4) the effects of interdependence where there is mutual influence among systems and their related elements making analysis difficult (Boardman and Sauser 2006 ; Keating 2008 ; Nagahi et al 2020a , b ; Ullah Ibne Hossain et al 2020 ). These four elements are likely to escalate as the interdisciplinary system problems of the twenty-first century continue to blur the lines between technical, social, managerial, and policy considerations (DeLaurentis and 2005 , January.…”

“…Sociotechnical failures disclose technical, sociopolitical, and power elements, or interactions between these elements (Nagahi et al 2020a ; Ullah Ibne Hossain et al 2020 ; Frank 2006 ; Clegg 2000 ). A holistic frame of reference is necessary to provide effective solutions to address such rigorous failures.…”