A Survey of Systems Engineering Effectiveness: Initial Results

This survey quantifies the relationship between the application of Systems Engineering (SE) best practices to projects and programs, and the performance of those projects and programs. The survey population consisted of projects and programs executed by defense contractors who are members of the Systems Engineering Division of the National Defense Industrial Association. The deployment of SE practices on a project or program was measured through the availability and characteristics of specific SE-related work products. Project Performance was measured through typically available project measures of cost performance, schedule performance, and scope performance. Additional project and program information such as project size, project domain, and other data was also collected to aid in characterizing the respondent's project. Analysis of the survey responses revealed moderately strong statistical relationships between Project Performance and several categorizations of specific of SE best practices. Notably stronger relationships are apparent by combining the effects of more than one the best practices categories. Of course, Systems Engineering Capability alone does not ensure outstanding Project Performance. The survey results show notable differences in the relationship between SE best practices and performance between more challenging as compared to less challenging projects. The statistical relationship between Project Performance and the combination of SE Capability and Project Challenge is quite strong for survey data of this type.

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Authors

Joseph P. Elm

Dennis R. Goldenson

Khaled El Emam

Nichole Donitelli

Angelica Neisa

NDIA SE Effectiveness Committee

This report is related to the following area(s) of work:

Acquisition Support

Special Report
CMU/SEI-2007-SR-014
November 2007

Cite This Report

SEI:

Elm, Joseph; Goldenson, Dennis; El Emam, Khaled; Donitelli, Nichole; Neisa, Angelica; & NDIA SE Effectiveness Committee, . A Survey of Systems Engineering Effectiveness: Initial Results (CMU/SEI-2007-SR-014). Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, 2007. http://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/abstracts/reports/07sr014.cfm

IEEE:

J. Elm, D. Goldenson, K. El Emam, N. Donitelli, A. Neisa, and . NDIA SE Effectiveness Committee, "A Survey of Systems Engineering Effectiveness: Initial Results," Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Special Report CMU/SEI-2007-SR-014, 2007. http://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/abstracts/reports/07sr014.cfm

APA:

Elm, J., Goldenson, D., El Emam, K., Donitelli, N., Neisa, A., & NDIA SE Effectiveness Committee, . (2007). A Survey of Systems Engineering Effectiveness: Initial Results (CMU/SEI-2007-SR-014). Retrieved June 19, 2013, from the Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University website: http://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/abstracts/reports/07sr014.cfm

CHI:

Elm, Joseph, Dennis Goldenson, Khaled El Emam, Nichole Donitelli, Angelica Neisa, and NDIA SE Effectiveness Committee. A Survey of Systems Engineering Effectiveness: Initial Results (CMU/SEI-2007-SR-014). Pittsburgh, PA: Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, 2007. http://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/abstracts/reports/07sr014.cfm

MLA:

Elm, J., Goldenson, D., El Emam, K., Donitelli, N., Neisa, A., & NDIA SE Effectiveness Committee, . 2007. A Survey of Systems Engineering Effectiveness: Initial Results (Technical Report CMU/SEI-2007-SR-014). Pittsburgh: Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. http://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/abstracts/reports/07sr014.cfm

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