Sensemaking in a Value-Based Context due to Requirements Creep

Abstract

The design and the development of Large-Scale Complex Engineered Systems (LSCES) requires the involvement of large numbers of people. Traditionally these LSCES are designed using requirements-driven systems engineering approaches, where the preferences of the stakeholders are communicated using requirements. Usually, multiple organizational levels and interaction between the different teams are required to elicit the requirements at different levels. Most large-scale projects are subjected to scope creep. The scope creep can occur at any level of the organization and cycle back to the highest level, thereby increasing the cost and time associated with the development of LSCES. In this paper, the authors analyze the scope creep of requirements that may occur at various levels of the organization to determine the value gap associated with this creep. The Cynefin framework, a sensemaking framework, will be used to determine the state of the system and to provide guidance in decision-making to minimize the value gap resulting from the requirements creep. Value-Driven Design (VDD) is used to capture the value of the system and also the Value-gap associated with scope creep. This is calculated by the time and the cost involved in communicating the requirements from one level to another. A sample organizational structure is used to illustrate the effects of requirements creep on Value-gap. Two types of system, a simple system and a complex system are used to demonstrate the state of the system in the Cynefin Framework and understand the effects of the requirement creep.

Meeting Name

2016 International Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Management, ASEM 2016 (2016: Oct. 26-29, Charlotte, NC)

Department(s)

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering

Keywords and Phrases

Cynefin Framework; Large-Scale Complex Engineered system; Scope creep; Value-Driven Design

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2016 American Society for Engineering Management (ASEM), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Oct 2016

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