Valuing System Engineering: The Enterprise QCD Approach

摘要

Extending the definition of quality, cost, and delivery (QCD) from the program or project level to the Business Unit and indeed to the Enterprise level establishes a framework to effectively assess the value of system engineering (SE) in commercial enterprises. Most of the value of SE lies at these higher corporate levels where business and technical metrics intermingle. The Enterprise QCD approach supports a clear definition of system engineering. Three major confounding factors must be dealt with in valuation. In commercial environments, much system engineering is conducted by individuals not carrying the title "system engineer." Second, attempts to correlate benefits to the quantity of systems engineering will be confounded by the fact that high quality systems engineering reduces the needed quantity. And third, the stage of the enterprise in its life cycle must be taken into account when evaluating the role and value of systems engineering. Effective competitive benchmarking and before/after comparisons can get at the value of SE while minimizing confounding effects. Improvements in QCD should aim at large increases in performance.