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Theses and Dissertations

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Browsing Theses and Dissertations by Author "Adams, James, committee member"

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    Determining systems engineering value in competitive bids
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Dawson, Sandra Lynn, author; Batchelor, Ann, advisor; Arenson, David, committee member; Adams, James, committee member; Simske, Steve, committee member; Wise, Dan, committee member
    Corporations need a methodology to determine existing and new Systems Engineering (SE) effort costs in a more relevant context through deepening its connection within the competitive bidding process. The impact of Digital Engineering (DE) on SE within competitive bids is evolving as the industry is maturing its DE transition and implementation. The state of the field does not consider the impact of the current transition from traditional document-based SE (TDSE) to digital engineering (DE) and the impact on SE value. This paper examines the effectiveness of the SE costing models that are available in the literature by introducing a process to compare completed projects using metrics of actual SE hours expended and project performance against recommended SE effort and project results. Analysis of this comparison provides justification for SE effort bid ranges and associated project results. This research endeavors to enable a more holistic and SE-centric view of SE costing with considerations of project characteristics and the ongoing DE transition. Finally, this research provides a new framework for the analysis results and references useful in the bidding of SE projects where SE bid options can be associated with project performance, DE transition progress, and references relevant to the competitive bid approach. By applying systems thinking, using feedback loops and data from multiple organizations, understanding SE-DE impact, and empowering engineers in the DE transition, these research results enable data-driven decisions to determine SE value in competitive bids and to optimize SE using risk management. Following this process and using an organization's data (for competitive bids and projects) will yield results specific to competitive bids, bid technical approach, and DE transition progress. These results are communicated to the competitive bids teams using a SE focused framework.
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    Identification and ranking of critical success practices for projects and products
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Ketkale, Harshwardhan, author; Batchelor, Ann, advisor; Adams, James, committee member; Albert, Lumina, committee member
    Project results continue to fail despite the large number of efforts invested by researchers towards project success (Terry Cooke Davies, 2002). Identification of Critical Success Factors for a product/project has been a challenge (Uluocak, 2013). Thus, it is essential to conduct study in determining these primary factors contributing towards product/project success. Although several studies have been conducted in identifying the success factors for product/project in diverse range of areas but none have explored actual industrial scenarios from a wide range of fields to derive the critical success practices followed by validation through working professionals. Thus, this study aimed at identifying the critical success practices for projects/products. The research design constituted of in-depth case studies allowing an outlook into actual industrial scenarios providing a list of critical practices contributing towards success as well as failure of a product/project in various fields as the first part. Second part of the research involved validation of the determined critical practices through focus-group survey with working professionals and graduate students. This study data exhibited variation in the views of survey subjects towards the critical success practices based on their work experience, possession of INCOSE/PMI certification and in terms of their roles in the firm such as Managers, Engineers, Marketing/Sales, and Engineering managers. RII tool and Henry Garrett Ranking Method were used to analyze data from Likert-scale based and ranking questions respectively/ In conclusion, this study was also able to identify, evaluate and rank the critical success practices for a wide range of projects/products providing a foundation for execution of successful projects in future.