System Thinking and System Engineering in Project Management

This article discusses the significance of system thinking and system engineering in project management. It covers the importance of system thinking tools, system engineering methodologies, and project management application systems. The article also explores the advantages and disadvantages of electronic project management systems and manual processing. A case study of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is included. The learning outcomes indicate the significance of system thinking and engineering in the context of project management.

Running head: PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
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Name of the Student:
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Author Note:

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Introduction and summery of outcome
The discussion is regarding the system thinking and the system thinking tools in the
management of the project. It also signifies the system thinking and system engineering tools in
the project management along with its relevance (Svejvig & Andersen,2015). The system
engineering concepts and system engineering methodologies have been discussed along with its
relevance in management of different projects. While discussing the system thinking and system
engineering in the context of the project management the learning outcome also indicates project
life cycle of development of a project. From the discussion the advantages and of the system
engineering and implementing the system thinking tools in context of project management has
been discussed (Svejvig & Andersen,2015). Apart from that the importance of maintaining the
stages in the life cycle of the project has been described in the learning outcome.
Learning outcome
a. LO1: Importance of system thinking in the management of the project.
Summery: System thinking is the way to analysis the available resources for the
development of the project. With the dynamic demands of the consumers the complexity
of the project is growing (Svejvig & Andersen,2015). In this case, understanding the
relations between different system can be beneficial to understand relationship between
the different components of the project.
Evidence: The application of the system thinking has certain advantage for development
of project. Complexity of project makes outcome of project uncertain. In this case,
analysis of different systems in the project can mitigate the chances of accidents in the

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development of the complex project (Mills & Koliba, 2015). In this case the mention of
the oil spill case of the Deep Water Horizon can be mentioned.
L02: Significance of system thinking tools in management of the project.
Summery: In order to apply system thinking in complex project management, application
of the system thinking is needed. It helps project to be developed in a systematic way
(Incardona & Scholz,2018). There are certain advantages of the system thinking tools in
the project as it helps to understand the functionality of the different modules in the
system. However, it has been seen that most of the project managers are not interested in
adopting the usage of system thinking tools in development of project.
Evidence: Some of system thinking tools are decision matrix, conceptual models. All
these tools help the project manager to identify the issues and the opportunities included
in the system or the development of the project (Svejvig & Andersen,2015). However,
with the absence of the system thinking tools the increase of uncertainty in the outcome
of complex project management can be happened. In this context the oil spill case of the
deep water horizon can be taken.
b. L03: Significance of the system engineering in the project management.
Summery: System engineering is concerned about better handling of requirements in
project management. Significance of system engineering is that it helps to synchronize
the requirements between system engineer and project manager.
Evidence: Synchronization between system engineers and project manager is important
because system engineer is concerned about the implementation of functionality of the

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different areas regarding project (Snyder & Dionisio, 2017). Main objective of project
manager is to be concern about the development of project according to project
management guideline (Stark, 2015). Lack of communication between the project
manager and the system engineer can lead to accident. For deep water horizon, the
engineers at site were concerned about leak in cement base, however they did not
informed this matter to the higher authority which leads to the failure of the project.
c. L04: Significance of system engineering methodologies in the management of the
project.
Summery: Implementation of the system engineering is done by the system engineering
methodologies (Brioso, 2015). The system engineering methodologies can be
implemented in different ways. There are many application available those help in the
implementation of the system engineering. However, the selection of system engineering
methodologies is dependent on nature of the project.
Evidence: System engineering has different definition in the context of the project
management (Hornstein, 2015). However, in general the system engineering follows four
stages- definition of the task, conceptual stage, design stage and the implementation
stage.
d. L05: Significance of appropriate project management application system for meeting the
external and internal objectives .
Summery: Project management application system can be applied in various ways. The
selection of project management application system is dependent on type of the project.

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Generally there are five stages of the project management application. Following all these
stages will help the project manager to deliver the right outcome of the project.
Evidence: There are various project management application or the methodologies which
can be applied to the project (Incardona & Scholz,2018). Without proper selection of the
methodology the the delay of the project may happen or the delivery of the outcome may
not be satisfactory. In some cases, incident may happen during the project development
process. In this case the oil spill case of the deep water horizon can be mentioned.
e. L06: Importance of the project application system in effective knowledge management
and decision making:
Summery: The decision making process is important for managing the development of
the project. With the lack of the decision making process the project may fail (Incardona
& Scholz,2018). The decision making framework will help to mitigate the risks and the
challenges involved in the project and will indicate the future direction of the project.
Evidence: In case of the deepwater horizon the engineers were aware about the leak in
the cement base, however, the lack of decision making the quick response led to the
disaster.
f. LO7: Advantages and disadvantages of electronic project management system and
manual processing of the project management:
Summery: Earlier, the management and the accountability of the project was done
manually. However, in recent years there are various online application and the electronic
medium available for storing and managing the data regarding the development of the
project. The main advantage of electronic record keeping regarding the development of

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the project is that the whole system is flexible and user friendly (Incardona &
Scholz,2018). On the other hand there are certain disadvantage of using manual process
of the record keeping as there is a chance of error.
Evidence: The managing of the complex projects like deep water horizon can be easily
managed through the application of electronic record keeping system.
g. LO8: Monitoring the performance of the progress of the project through the application
of the project and portfolio management:
Summery: The monitoring of the project is concerned about the evaluation of the
performance of the project (Incardona & Scholz,2018). The evaluation of the
performance of the project is important as works as the feedback system for the
development of the project and indicates the required improvements and the
modifications in the project.
Evidence: With the lack of proper monitoring system the project may fail. In case of
deep water horizon the monitoring if the system was not proper. This was the reason the
leak in the system was not monitored and the performance of the overall system was not
evaluated in a proper way which leads to the failure of the project.
h. L09: Appropriate project and portfolio management system for successful execution of
the project:
Summery: Proper portfolio management can lead to the successful implementation of the
project. Selection of appropriate project management system can be done based on the
type of project.

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Evidence: For the successful management of project determination of the deadline of
execution along with the risk analysis are needed. The use of the electronic record
keeping system helps to generate all these things in accurate way. This indicates that the
use of the electronic record keeping system is more desirable over the manual system.
L010: Development in the use of the project and portfolio management system:
Summery: The project and portfolio management system is important for the project to
deliver the right outcome. In earlier days the management of the project was done in
manual way (Incardona & Scholz,2018). There was the chances of error in managing the
project manually. However, this system is replaced by the electronic system of record
keeping which is user friendly and error free.
Evidence: In case of the electronic project management system MS Word and other
software applications can be used. The entry of the date and time are done in an accurate
manner. In this case, there are less chances of error. However, in the manual processing
of the project and portfolio management system keeping the track record of the complex
project may become hectic and can produce much error which is not desirable.
Discussion and conclusion:
The learning outcomes indicate the significance of the system thinking and engineering in
the context of the management of the project. It has been found out that the application of the
system thinking and system engineering tools are helpful for the managing of the complex
project. However, many of the project managers are not inclined to adopt the usage of the system
and engineering tools in development of project. In this context the mention of the oil spill case
in the deep water horizon has been done. On the other hand maintaining project life cycle in the

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development of the project is crucial as it helps to deliver project the right outcome.
Implementation of the project management life cycle along with the application of the system
thinking tools will help the project to deliver the right outcome. However, there is a tendency for
the project manager of not following the system thinking tools and the methodology regarding
the system engineering. It can be concluded that if in case system thinking along with the system
engineering is applied during the development of the project, it can deliver a standard outcome.
References:
Brioso, X. (2015). Integrating ISO 21500 guidance on project management, lean construction
and PMBOK. Procedia Engineering, 123, 76-84.
Hornstein, H. A. (2015). The integration of project management and organizational change
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Incardona, J. P., & Scholz, N. L. (2018). Case Study: The 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and
Its Environmental Developmental Impacts. In Development and Environment(pp. 235-
283). Springer, Cham.
Mills, R. W., & Koliba, C. J. (2015). The challenge of accountability in complex regulatory
networks: The case of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Regulation & Governance, 9(1),
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Mir, F. A., & Pinnington, A. H. (2014). Exploring the value of project management: linking
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1) (pp. 1-29). Springer, Cham.
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