“Systems engineering influences on projects and the systems engineering workforce

Abstract

This research was an investigation into the influences systems engineering has on projects and the systems engineering workforce conditions. It focussed on all industries that have projects and utilised the systems engineering process in South Africa. The research examined the knowledge and understanding of the workforce in the systems engineering domain and some of the specific functions of systems engineering that add value to projects. The constraints the organisation and the workforce experience with regard to culture, resources, management support and systems thinking were also investigated. The research methodology followed a deductive reasoning approach. The most suitable strategy, given the crosssectional time horizon, was a monomethod survey. This was represented with a quantitative questionnaire and nonprobability sampling techniques. Respondents i.e. project managers, engineers and clients from related organisations, were invited to participate. The results revealed that the systems engineering was fairly new field in the South African environment. Although respondents understood the basic concept of systems engineering, they were uncertain of the actual functions of systems engineering. There was clear indication that skills shortages existed. Respondents were willing to learn and the organisation could do more to develop the systems engineering field.