The design of Large-Scale Complex Engineered Systems (LSCESs) is an effort that requires large organizations made up of several teams of individuals, often spread over a significant geographical area. The structures of these organizations affect the design process of these engineered systems where design processes affect the products on which they are applied. Previous work has aptly demonstrated the improvements in design products where Value-Driven Design (VDD) is practiced, by capturing stakeholder preferences in value functions when using Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) frameworks to design complex systems. Organization structures, which are an essential part of Organization Design (OD), have been studied to understand the role that these structures play on resource management and utilization. This work investigates the inclusion of OD by the addition of organization structure attributes and parameters to the value function for complex engineered systems. Further, information on coupling strengths is investigated as a means to gain insight on how coupling suspension affects system value where the value function of a system includes organization attributes and parameters. An example system with characteristics present in LSCESs is used to demonstrate this application. This paper demonstrates that organization structures do affect the outcome of systems subjected to them. It is also demonstrated that coupling information on such applications provide information that aids in decision making during the design process.
- Multidisciplinary Design Optimization,
- Organization Design,
- Systems Engineering,
- Value-Driven Design
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/benjamin-kwasa/4/