THE NEW TAXONOMY OF SYSTEMS - TOWARD AN ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS-ENGINEERING FRAMEWORK

Systems engineering is developing rapidly, while new standards are cre ated and new tools are being developed. However, the theoretical under standing and the conceptual foundation of systems engineering are stil l in their early stages. For example, although real world systems exhi bit considerable differences, there is very little distinction in the literature between the system type and the description of its actual s ystem engineering pursuit. We suggest here a new approach to systems e ngineering. It is based on the premise that the actual process of syst ems engineering must be adaptive to the real system type. Using this c oncept, we present a two-dimensional (2-D) taxonomy in which systems a re classified according to four levels of technological uncertainty, a nd three levels of system scope. We then describe the differences foun d in systems engineering styles in various areas, such as system requi rements, functional allocation, systems design, project organization, and management style. We also claim that adapting the wrong system and management style may cause major difficulties during the process of s ystem creation. Two examples will be analyzed to illustrate this point : the famous Space Shuttle case and one of the system development proj ects we studied.