Systems Engineering, Systems Thinking, and Learning

Systems Engineering, Systems Thinking, and Learning PDF

Author: Hubert Anton Moser

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2013-12-05

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 3319038958

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This book focuses on systems engineering, systems thinking, and how that thinking can be learned in practice. It describes a novel analytical framework based on activity theory for understanding how systems thinking evolves and how it can be improved to support multidisciplinary teamwork in the context of system development and systems engineering. This method, developed using data collected over four years from three different small space systems engineering organizations, can be applied in a wide variety of work activities in the context of engineering design and beyond in order to monitor and analyze multidisciplinary interactions in working teams over time. In addition, the book presents a practical strategy called WAVES (Work Activity for a Evolution of Systems engineering and thinking), which fosters the practical learning of systems thinking with the aim of improving process development in different industries. The book offers an excellent resource for researchers and practitioners interested in systems thinking and in solutions to support its evolution. Beyond its contribution to a better understanding of systems engineering, systems thinking and how it can be learned in real-world contexts, it also introduce a suitable analysis framework that helps to bridge the gap between the latest social science research and engineering research.

Advanced Systems Thinking, Engineering, and Management

Advanced Systems Thinking, Engineering, and Management PDF

Author: Derek K. Hitchins

Publisher: Artech House

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 504

ISBN-13: 9781580536202

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Annotation This volume offers a comprehensive understanding of systems ideas and methods, showing professionals in a wide range of high-tech fields how to conceive, design and manage a systems engineering process for optimal results and goal attainment.

Systems Thinking

Systems Thinking PDF

Author: Moti Frank

Publisher: Nova Science Publishers

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781634852234

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Systems-thinking, a holistic approach that puts the study of wholes before that of parts, is an effective means of dealing with real-world situations. Emphasizing the interrelationships between the system's components rather than the components themselves, systems thinking allows us to increase our personal and professional effectiveness, and transform our organizations. Specifically, systems thinkers are able to conceptually analyze the system without knowing all the details, metaphorically recognizing the forest through the trees. They can see beyond the surface to the deeper patterns that are really responsible for creating behavior. This book provides a wealth of knowledge about systems thinking, enables readers to deeply understand what systems thinking is, and why it is so important in their work. Readers will learn the conceptual foundations of systems thinking, as well as its tools and the proper ways to use them. These tools will facilitate defining problems and designing solutions in an environment increasingly characterized by chaos and complexity. Since systems thinking is not a discipline, but rather an interdisciplinary conceptual framework used in a wide range of areas, this book presents the applications of systems thinking in different domains, including systems engineering, project management, healthcare, psychology and education. The editors, who are experts in the field of systems thinking due to numerous studies they conducted on this subject, have skillfully created a multidimensional view on systems thinking, including theory and practice, research and application, in a wide variety of fields. Therefore, this book will be useful for researches and practitioners, as well as suitable for beginners and specialists alike.

Systems Thinking

Systems Thinking PDF

Author: Cliff Whitcomb

Publisher: MDPI

Published: 2021-01-20

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 303936796X

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This Systems Thinking Special Issue contains 12 papers on the nature of systems thinking as it applies to systems engineering, systems science, system dynamics, and related fields. Systems thinking can be broadly considered the activity of thinking applied in a systems context, forming a basis for fundamental approaches to several systems disciplines, including systems engineering, systems science, and system dynamics. Although these are somewhat distinct fields, they are bound by common approaches in regard to systems. Whereas systems engineering seeks to apply a multidisciplinary, holistic approach to the development of systems, systems science seeks to understand the basics related to systems of all kinds, from natural to man-made, and system dynamics seeks to understand system structures in order to influence its dynamics. Man-made systems have become more ubiquitous and complex. The study of systems, both natural and engineered, presents new challenges and opportunities to understand emergent, dynamic behaviors that inform the process of sense-making based on systems thinking.

Thinking in Systems

Thinking in Systems PDF

Author: Donella Meadows

Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing

Published: 2008-12-03

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 1603581480

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The classic book on systems thinking—with more than half a million copies sold worldwide! "This is a fabulous book... This book opened my mind and reshaped the way I think about investing."—Forbes "Thinking in Systems is required reading for anyone hoping to run a successful company, community, or country. Learning how to think in systems is now part of change-agent literacy. And this is the best book of its kind."—Hunter Lovins In the years following her role as the lead author of the international bestseller, Limits to Growth—the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a finite planet—Donella Meadows remained a pioneer of environmental and social analysis until her untimely death in 2001. Thinking in Systems is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global. Edited by the Sustainability Institute’s Diana Wright, this essential primer brings systems thinking out of the realm of computers and equations and into the tangible world, showing readers how to develop the systems-thinking skills that thought leaders across the globe consider critical for 21st-century life. Some of the biggest problems facing the world—war, hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation—are essentially system failures. They cannot be solved by fixing one piece in isolation from the others, because even seemingly minor details have enormous power to undermine the best efforts of too-narrow thinking. While readers will learn the conceptual tools and methods of systems thinking, the heart of the book is grander than methodology. Donella Meadows was known as much for nurturing positive outcomes as she was for delving into the science behind global dilemmas. She reminds readers to pay attention to what is important, not just what is quantifiable, to stay humble, and to stay a learner. In a world growing ever more complicated, crowded, and interdependent, Thinking in Systems helps readers avoid confusion and helplessness, the first step toward finding proactive and effective solutions.

Systems Engineering

Systems Engineering PDF

Author: Howard Eisner

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-06-01

Total Pages: 125

ISBN-13: 3031793366

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This book provides an overview of systems engineering, its important elements, and aspects of management that will lead in the direction of building systems with a greater likelihood of success. Emphasis is placed upon the following elements: - How the systems approach is defined, and how it guides the systems engineering processes - How systems thinking helps in combination with the systems approach and systems engineering - Time lines that define the life cycle dimensions of a system - System properties, attributes, features, measures and parameters - Approaches to architecting systems - Dealing with requirements, synthesis, analysis and cost effectiveness considerations - Life cycle costing of systems - Modeling, simulation and other analysis methods - Technology and its interplay with risk and its management - Systems acquisition and integration - Systems of systems - Thinking outside the box - Success and failure factors - Software engineering - Standards - Systems engineering management Together, these top-level aspects of systems engineering need to be understood and mastered in order to improve the way we build systems, as they typically become larger and more complex. Table of Contents: Definitions and Background / The Systems Approach / Systems Thinking / Key Elements of Systems Engineering / The Life Cycle Dimension / System Properties, Attributes and Features (PAFs) / Measures and Parameters / Architecting / Functional Decomposition / Requirements Engineering / Synthesis / Analysis / Cost-Effectiveness / Life Cycle Costing / Modeling and Simulation / Other Analysis Relationships / The Role of Technology / Risk Management / Testing, Verification, and Validation / Integration / Systems Engineering Management / Project Management / Software Engineering / Systems Acquisition / Systems of Systems / Thinking Outside the Box / Ten Failure Factors / A Success Audit / Standards

Thinking

Thinking PDF

Author: Howard Eisner

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2019-01-14

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 0429655584

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Thinking: A Guide to Systems Engineering Problem-Solving focuses upon articulating ways of thinking in today’s world of systems and systems engineering. It also explores how the old masters made the advances they made, hundreds of years ago. Taken together, these considerations represent new ways of problem solving and new pathways to answers for modern times. Special areas of interest include types of intelligence, attributes of superior thinkers, systems architecting, corporate standouts, barriers to thinking, and innovative companies and universities. This book provides an overview of more than a dozen ways of thinking, to include: Inductive Thinking, Deductive Thinking, Reductionist Thinking, Out-of-the-Box Thinking, Systems Thinking, Design Thinking, Disruptive Thinking, Lateral Thinking, Critical Thinking, Fast and Slow Thinking, and Breakthrough Thinking. With these thinking skills, the reader is better able to tackle and solve new and varied types of problems. Features Proposes new approaches to problem solving for the systems engineer Compares as well as contrasts various types of Systems Thinking Articulates thinking attributes of the great masters as well as selected modern systems engineers Offers chapter by chapter thinking exercises for consideration and testing Suggests a "top dozen" for today’s systems engineers

Decision Making in Systems Engineering and Management

Decision Making in Systems Engineering and Management PDF

Author: Patrick J. Driscoll

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2022-10-25

Total Pages: 580

ISBN-13: 1119901421

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DECISION MAKING IN SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT A thoroughly updated overview of systems engineering management and decision making In the newly revised third edition of Decision Making in Systems Engineering and Management, the authors deliver a comprehensive and authoritative overview of the systems decision process, systems thinking, and qualitative and quantitative multi-criteria value modeling directly supporting decision making throughout the system lifecycle. This book offers readers major new updates that cover recently developed system modeling and analysis techniques and quantitative and qualitative approaches in the field, including effective techniques for addressing uncertainty. In addition to Excel, six new open-source software applications have been added to illustrate key topics, including SIPmath Modeler Tools, Cambridge Advanced Modeller, SystemiTool2.0, and Gephi 0.9.2. The authors have reshaped the book’s organization and presentation to better support educators engaged in remote learning. New appendices have been added to present extensions for a new realization analysis technique and getting started steps for each of the major software applications. Updated illustrative examples support modern system decision making skills and highlight applications in hardware, organizations, policy, logistic supply chains, and architecture. Readers will also find: Thorough introductions to working with systems, the systems engineering perspective, and systems thinking In-depth presentations of applied systems thinking, including holism, element dependencies, expansive and contractive thinking, and concepts of structure, classification, and boundaries Comprehensive explorations of system representations leading to analysis In-depth discussions of supporting system decisions, including the system decision process (SDP), tradespace methods, multi-criteria value modeling, working with stakeholders, and the system environment Perfect for undergraduate and graduate students studying systems engineering and systems engineering management, Decision Making in Systems Engineering and Management will also earn a place in the libraries of practicing system engineers and researchers with an interest in the topic.

Engineering a Safer World

Engineering a Safer World PDF

Author: Nancy G. Leveson

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2012-01-13

Total Pages: 555

ISBN-13: 0262297302

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A new approach to safety, based on systems thinking, that is more effective, less costly, and easier to use than current techniques. Engineering has experienced a technological revolution, but the basic engineering techniques applied in safety and reliability engineering, created in a simpler, analog world, have changed very little over the years. In this groundbreaking book, Nancy Leveson proposes a new approach to safety—more suited to today's complex, sociotechnical, software-intensive world—based on modern systems thinking and systems theory. Revisiting and updating ideas pioneered by 1950s aerospace engineers in their System Safety concept, and testing her new model extensively on real-world examples, Leveson has created a new approach to safety that is more effective, less expensive, and easier to use than current techniques. Arguing that traditional models of causality are inadequate, Leveson presents a new, extended model of causation (Systems-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes, or STAMP), then shows how the new model can be used to create techniques for system safety engineering, including accident analysis, hazard analysis, system design, safety in operations, and management of safety-critical systems. She applies the new techniques to real-world events including the friendly-fire loss of a U.S. Blackhawk helicopter in the first Gulf War; the Vioxx recall; the U.S. Navy SUBSAFE program; and the bacterial contamination of a public water supply in a Canadian town. Leveson's approach is relevant even beyond safety engineering, offering techniques for “reengineering” any large sociotechnical system to improve safety and manage risk.