Systems Thinking and Systems Engineering in Project Management

(
Insert Student Name) / (
Insert Student Number) - PPMP20012Unit Portfolio for Week 2
Reading samples Learning
outcomes of
the unit
Learnings from your weekly study,
experience, this and prior unit readings
and assignments
Supporting
documentation
including any
prior learning
Mandatory Readings
 Part 1: SEBoK
Introduction -
'Introduction to SE
Transformation';
 Part 1: SEBoK
Introduction -
'SEBoK Users and
Uses';
 Part 6: Related
Disciplines -
'Knowledge Area:
Systems
Engineering and
Project
Management'
 Kerzner (2013)
Chapters 2.1; 2.6 -
2.8; 2.21;
 AS/NZS 15288:2015
Introduction;
Optional Readings
 AS ISO 21504:2016
Project, programme
and portfolio
management—
Guidance on
portfolio
2.Identify different
systems thinking
tools and
techniques to aid
project managers
solve project
problems.
 What systems thinking are and what it is trying to
achieve. You might want to review back to last week’s
readings and material;
Answer: systems thinking can be defined as a particular
holistic approach to the analysis that focuses on a
particular way by which constituent part of the system
interrelate and describe how processes have worked with
time (Amodeo 2016). This aims in contracting with
traditional analysis, which studies the systems with the
help of breaking down into various elements.
 Secondly what tools and techniques can be used to
make systems thinking work? In fact this is the
purpose of systems engineering, which is a
comprehensive way of implementing systems
thinking;
answer: various tools and techniques that could be used
for the purpose of make system thinking work include
actor mapping, timeline mapping, ecocycle mapping,
trend mapping, appreciative inquiry mapping and world
cafe’ methods. In fact this is a purpose of systems
engineering, the comprehensive way that could be used
for the purpose of implementing systems engineering
include appreciate enquiry (Ferrada, Núñez and
Neyem2016). This is a particular study as well as
exploration of what provides life to various human
systems when they help in functioning at their best. This
approach to organizational change and personal change
has been based on the assumptions which questions as
Amodeo, L., 2016. A
Petri Net-based
framework for realistic
project management
and scheduling: An
application in
animation and
videogames. Computer
s & Operations
Research, 66, pp.190-
198.
Ferrada, X., Núñez, D.,
Neyem, A., Serpell, A.
and Sepúlveda, M.,
2016. A lessons-
learned system for
construction project
management: a
preliminary
application. Procedia-
Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 226, pp.302-
309.
Verzuh, E., 2015. The
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(
Insert Student Name) / (
Insert Student Number) - PPMP20012Unit Portfolio for Week 2
Reading samples Learning
outcomes of
the unit
Learnings from your weekly study,
experience, this and prior unit readings
and assignments
Supporting
documentation
including any
prior learning
management;
Case Study
 Chief Counsel's
Report - Chapter 5
(PDF 700KB),
well as dialogues regarding strengths, values, hopes,
successes and many more.
 How with systems thinking and systems engineering
project managers might solve problems?
Answer: systems engineering and systems thinking can
be used for the purpose of solving problems, the steps
that could be used for solving problems include telling the
story in an effective way, drawing behaviour over time
graphs, creating a focus treatment, indentifying the
structure, going deeper in the issues and planning and
intervention.
 The conventional project management thinking says
that Project, Program and Portfolio management is a
solution to solving project problems. But is it really?
Answer: according to conventional project management
thinking reflects the fact that project, program as well as
portfolio management is a presented solution for solving
various project problems, this is because they aim in
solving project management by centralizing the project
data which enables a good visibility into various projects,
better understanding of the way projects have been
aligned with the objectives of the organization as well as
improved insight into the status of project (Verzuh 2015).
 Think of the problems that BP has faced with The
Deepwater Horizon and Texas City disasters. Did
systems thinking and systems engineering help them?
Answer: the systems thinking and systems engineering
did not help the deepwater horizon and Texas city
disasters because the BP brand awareness had jumped
from 4% to a 67%. The BP accidents reveal that the group
had never been concerned regarding the prevention
along with the safety (Marcelino-Sádaba, González-Jaen
and Pérez-Ezcurdia 2015). The organization did not have
fast forward MBA in
project management.
John Wiley & Sons.
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(
Insert Student Name) / (
Insert Student Number) - PPMP20012Unit Portfolio for Week 2
Reading samples Learning
outcomes of
the unit
Learnings from your weekly study,
experience, this and prior unit readings
and assignments
Supporting
documentation
including any
prior learning
any system for prevention and it neglected the safety and
security warnings.
 How about the Chief Counsel’s Report? Does it show
that BP had a good idea about systems thinking?
Answer: BP did have systems thinking implemented in
their systems but they did not have enough knowledge to
gain maximum out of the application (Heagney 2016).
The organization also did not have an effective planning
for the purpose of solving complex problems and prevent
the disaster that had been occurred.
Are there other insights that you can make from other
units that you have studied? Or your work and life
experience?
Mandatory Readings
 SEBoK Part 2:
Foundations of
Systems
Engineering –
 'Knowledge Area:
Systems
Fundamentals';
 'Knowledge Area:
Systems Science';
 'Knowledge Area:
Systems
Thinking';
 'Knowledge Area:
Representing
Systems with
Models';
 Part 6: Related
3. Assess the
relevance of
systems
engineering to
project cases.
 Does Systems Engineering have any relevance to the
two BP catastrophes?
Answer: systems engineering had a particular amount
of relativity of various BP catastrophes because the
systems engineering had been introduces for the
purpose of providing a larger view of the hazards
instead of failures. These systems had been
introduced for the purpose of systems theory as well
as approaches for systems engineering in order to
prevent various accidents that are foreseeable in
nature and hence minimize various results of the
unforseen ones.
 Are there any sources that might claim there is
relevance, for example SEBoK?
Answer: there are various sources that provide the
evidence regarding the relevance of systems engineering
with the BP disaster. The reference of the related article
has been provided in this particular document.
Marcelino-Sádaba, S.,
González-Jaen, L.F. and
Pérez-Ezcurdia, A.,
2015. Using project
management as a way
to sustainability. From
a comprehensive
review to a framework
definition.
Journal of
cleaner production, 99,
pp.1-16.
Heagney, J.,
2016.
Fundamentals of
project management.
Amacom.
Jabbarzadeh, A., 2018.
Application of the AHP
and TOPSIS in project
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(
Insert Student Name) / (
Insert Student Number) - PPMP20012Unit Portfolio for Week 2
Reading samples Learning
outcomes of
the unit
Learnings from your weekly study,
experience, this and prior unit readings
and assignments
Supporting
documentation
including any
prior learning
Disciplines –
 'Knowledge Area:
Systems
Engineering and
Industrial
Engineering';
 'Knowledge Area:
Systems
Engineering and
Specialty
Engineering';
 Part 7: Systems
Engineering
Implementation
Examples:
 How Lack of
Information
Sharing
Jeopardized the
NASA/ESA
Cassini/Huygens
Mission to
Saturn;
 Project
Management
Case Study;
 Kerzner (2013)
Chapters 17.12-
17.17;
 AS/NZS 15288:2015
Chapter 5;
Optional Reading
 How with systems thinking and systems engineering
project managers might solve problems?
Answer: systems engineering can be used by project
managers for solving problems in numerous ways. The
ways include improving realism of schedule and cost and
hence estimation with the help of understanding that
projects has not been deterministic. Additional tasks are
usually required in various projects that were not actually
expected.
 Does Project, Program and Portfolio management
provide any relevance? Either in conjunction or not
with Systems Engineering?
Answer: project, program as well as portfolio
management has relativity with the systems engineering
in various aspects, with the use if systems engineering,
the project management helps in managing an individual
project and in program management, the user manages
multiple similar projects. With the usage of systems
engineering, the portfolio management can provide
optimal as well as utilization of resources among the
projects, it also helps in providing constant support to the
programs.
 How do we know these things? What proof do we
have? How strong is it? Would the strength of the
proof encourage the board of BP to invest in these
solutions?
Answer: these things are acquired from numerous
external sources like various articles s well as journals.
The proofs that we have include some references of the
articles and journals from where they have been acquired.
The proof would definitely encourage the entire board of
management.
Journal
of Project
Management, 3(2),
pp.125-130.
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