BKCASE Workshop V
Case Studies
January 26–28, 2011
Team: Aaron Eng Seng Chia, Heidi Davidz, Richard Freeman,
Sandy Friedenthal, Tom Hilburn, Alex Lee, Alice Squires
Phoenix, AZ
Case Study Companion Document:
Schedule and Forward Plan Update
• Draft for January Workshop
– Need completed draft by January 14th
– January draft completed but immature / distraction
– A copy is available upon request.
• Two Three Case Studies to be addressed
– Singapore Water Management System (SWMS)
– AFIT Global Positioning System (GPS)
– AFIT Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
• Need a lead for this effort
– No lead, Alice Squires (temporary, I hope!)
Jan 25-28, 2011
Initial Companion Guide
• Developed for the most part early this month
building on Chapter 16 material and adding HST.
• Primarily mapped existing case studies to the
SEBoK Knowledge Areas (KAs) in more detail
– Strong: thoroughly addresses all of the elements of
the case study topic area
– Moderate: most of the elements addressed, but
some are missing or have limited coverage
– Weak: many of the elements not addressed or have
limited coverage
– None: topic area not addressed in case study
Jan 25-28, 2011
Ex/ Hubble Space Telescope
• Strong Relationship
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–
–
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SE Life Cycle
Life Cycle Model Mgmt
SEM Planning
Risk Management
Stakeholder Reqs
Integration
Jan 25-28, 2011
• Moderate Relationship
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Value of SE
Principles of SE
Architectural Design
Operation
Companion Guide
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Purpose; Summary of systems engineering case
study development efforts completed and underway
• Chapter 2: Case study outline and a table summarizing the
case studies according to Ch. 16 template
• Chapter 3: Hubble Space Telescope (HST) case study
published by the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT)
• Chapter 4: Global Positioning System (GPS) case study also
published by AFIT
• Chapter 5: A large-scale systems engineering perspective
of water management in Singapore case study and
addresses the Singapore Water Management System
(SWMS)
• Chapter 6: Summary (Final Thoughts or Road Ahead)
• Glossary
• References
Jan 25-28, 2011
Case Study Outline
• An overview, including a short description, the application domain
and application area (enterprise, service, or product), as defined in
Chapter 16.
• An identification of the primary domain(s) of the case study.
• An description of the case study development including the
methods used; the timeframe from initial data collection to final
publication of the case study; and specific direction or policy that
drove the methods used.
• The results from the case study criteria analysis that determines
whether or not the case study will be accepted into the Companion
guide as defined in Chapter 16.
• A mapping to SEBoK for every section as defined in Chapter 16. All
sections are included for ease of locating a particular area by
heading number. This is the same convention used in the Program
Management Body of Knowledge extensions. This mapping can be
accomplished in more than one way (see next slide).
• A summary and conclusion. This section summarizes the findings
from the case study and the rationale for the findings. It also
summarize the scope of applicability of these findings.
Jan 25-28, 2011s
Three Approaches
• External Case Study (AFIT, NASA, Etc…)
– No modification to external case studies.
– Purposes achieved through detailed write-up in
Companion Guide
• Modifiable Case Study (One that’s in process)
– Can add annotations to case study as needed
• Terminology matching
• Additional explanations, linking, references, etc…
• New Case Study (Drive New Efforts)
– Developed with SEBoK as guidance
Jan 25-28, 2011
Companion Guide Purpose
1. To elaborate the principles, practices, and concepts from the
SEBoK by adding domain dependent detail
2. To demonstrate how the principles, practices, and concepts from
the SEBoK are applied and tailored (including terminology and
rationale) to different: Application domains; Countries, regions,
and cultures; Project characteristics (e.g. size & complexity)
3. To provide a means to evaluate the application of practices from
the SEBoK including highlighting what works and what does not
work
4. To provide a means to evaluate new and evolving principles,
practices, and concepts (e.g. SoS, model-based, complex adaptive
systems, etc.)
5. To motivate the use of SE principles, practices, and concepts to
new users
6. To provide a teaching and training aid to new and experienced
practitioners based on the above – ex/ in their domain
Jan 25-28, 2011
SEBoK Ch. 16 Feedback
Explanation/Actions
Delete Case Study Chapter
Keep case studies
New Case Study Suggestion/Reference
Specific Action Suggested
General Comment - No action
Grand Total
Total
9 21%
16 38%
8 19%
4 10%
5 12%
42 100%
• Delete: Replace case studies with Technical Performance
Measures (1)
• Keep: Integrate case studies throughout SEBoK (4)
• Keep: Add examples of failures (3) Note: HST not in Chapter 16
• Keep: Put entire chapter in separate book (1)
Jan 25-28, 2011
Are case studies the way to go?
• Unanimous: Yes (7) (biased sample )
• The case study is a valuable tool for understanding how to apply SE
• SE, unlike other technical disciplines is best observed through actions that,
when combined, are intended to yield a desired outcome
• Encourages active participation and gives students a better sense of when
and how to use knowledge; provides context; captures domain specific
• Show how SE concepts and practices were used (or misused or not used)
in various domains - surely a valuable instructional resource
• But as teaching and training aids and to motivate the use of SE, not as
proof and not to generalize from
• We have used case studies extensive and successfully for more than 30
years to impart to each successive generation of SE across a very diverse
domain; but not the only didactic approach
• But requires experts in domain to properly relate to context of SEBoK
Jan 25-28, 2011
BKCASE Technical Objective #6
• Version 0.25 of the SEBoK will be domain
independent. Domain dependent approaches
to systems engineering knowledge will be
captured through case studies of individual
systems engineering projects applied to within
specific domains. Those case studies will be
companion documents to Version 0.25. After
Version 0.25 is complete, the decision to use
case studies as the only means to capture
domain specific knowledge will be revisited.
Jan 25-28, 2011
For Consideration/Discussion
• Drop effort and include vignettes instead
• Continue on current course
• Incorporate Case Study Companion Guide into
SEBoK Version 0.5 – schedule/logistically
– As an appendix
– As part of Chapter 16
– Integrated across chapters by KA
Jan 25-28, 2011