The Art of Enterprise Systems Engineering

By Joanne DeVincent, Theda Parrish, and Craig Petrun

MITRE, in partnership with the government, addresses issues of national importance through applied systems engineering and advanced technology. We're asked not only to provide innovative solutions, but to ensure that those solutions can be successfully integrated into the ever-changing political, economic, organizational, and operational enterprises of our sponsors.

This article draws from MITRE's expertise in social science to illustrate the critical organizational factors that must be addressed to successfully implement systems engineering solutions. The authors provide insight into the challenges faced when implementing both transformational and transactional changes. They also offer research strategies for understanding the social context of systems engineering and expound on the role of the social scientist in developing and implementing solutions.

A 2005 Gartner study of unsuccessful IT-related projects cited deficiencies in organizational change management as the sole cause of failure in 31 percent of the cases and as a contributing factor in 44 percent. Traditional systems engineering often fails to extend beyond the technical systems, sometimes disregarding the people and processes interacting within the systems.

So what are those factors involving the interaction of systems, people, and processes that are often overlooked? How can these factors be recognized and managed within an organization so that change facilitates success rather than resistance?

Managing Change

MITRE draws its personnel from a broad range of academic backgrounds, corporate and government experience, and professional skills. MITRE's multi-disciplinary teams—information systems engineers, enterprise architects, program managers, acquisition specialists, social behavioral scientists and organizational change management experts—offer practical solutions and a broad range of support to agencies that are undertaking systems engineering challenges.

This multi-disciplinary approach allows MITRE to provide each sponsor with a solution informed by the experience and expertise needed to address specific sponsor requirements. No matter how large the agency or how complex its change issues, MITRE can bring together a team of people with the right mix of engineering, technical, strategic planning, organizational design and development, sociocultural and communications skills. The results are MITRE and its sponsors working together not only to successfully engineer technical solutions, but to successfully implement change.

The initial step in the organizational change process is to determine the depth and breadth of the change required in the sponsor's organization. These conditions determine the type of change that an organization should anticipate and, thus, manage. This article describes two types of organizational change: transformational and transactional change.

Transformational Change

Often, organizational change occurs in response to external demands (e.g., Congressional mandates, budget reductions, or national disasters), which requires a fundamental shift in behaviors or culture. When the organization's mission, strategy, and leadership acknowledge and actively resolve to respond to these demands, then organizational transformation can occur.

Transactional Change

In contrast to fundamental transformational changes in behavior, transactional change occurs on a short-term and fragmented basis. It affects the perceptions of individuals about such day-to-day issues as roles and responsibilities, policies and procedures, and fairness in what behaviors are rewarded by the organization. Transactional factors, which tend to be indirectly influenced by the external environment, include organizational structures, IT systems, processes, individual skills, management practices, and organizational culture. When rapid change occurs, it can blur the understanding of "who's doing what and why," allowing mistrust to reinforce the current stovepipes that exist in the organization and limit the sharing of information.

Examples of Organizational Change Management

In a case of transformational change, MITRE was asked to assist a small IT unit within a large federal agency to evolve rapidly from a quick-response, hands-on application development shop into a strategically focused department overseeing projects worth billions of dollars that would be developed and managed by outside contractors. MITRE guided the leadership and staff through an intensive assessment and restatement of the department's mission and vision, as well as development of strategies to achieve their new goals and the training needed to carry them out. The result was a new operating model and organizational structure that supported selection, funding, and effective oversight of projects genuinely aligned with the agency's strategic goals.

In a case of transactional change, MITRE worked with a large government agency to develop standard operating procedures for responding to external audits. The process required information and actions from a broad range of employees across multiple divisions, with tight deadlines and highly specific reporting procedures. Many individuals had to be identified and informed of their responsibilities. The MITRE team—which included information security, enterprise engineering, and organizational change management staff— developed a Web-based standard operating procedure that was easy to access and update. The team also provided a comprehensive multimedia communication plan and the collateral material to implement the plan. As a result, all stakeholders in the audit process gained a clear understanding of their roles, as well as instant access to the detailed steps and forms needed to carry out their responsibilities.

These examples of sponsor challenges and MITRE solutions illustrate the importance of embedding organizational change practitioners within MITRE project teams and demonstrate the value that organizational change practices deliver toward ensuring mission success.

For more information, please contact Joanne DeVincent, Theda Parrish, or Craig Petrun using the employee directory.

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