Lecture 2.6: Organization
Structures
Dr. John MacCarthy
UMBC CMSC 615
Fall, 2006
1
Lecture Agenda
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Organization Models
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Functional Organization Structure
Product-Line/Project Organization Structure
Matrix Organization Structure
Integrated Product Teams
Structuring System Engineering in an
Organization
2
Overview of Organizational Structures
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Types of Organizational Structures
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Functional Organization Structure:
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Organized by activities that need to be performed
Typical Organization for:
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Product-Line/Project Organization Structure:
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Organized by Market Areas, Projects, and/or
Products/Components
Typical Organization for:
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Levels of Organizational
Structure
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Companies
Divisions
Projects
Departments
a company with many projects
a development organization
Matrix Organization Structure:
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a project
a department
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Organized by both Function and Product
Typical Mid-Level Organizational Structure
Integrate Product Teams:
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Typically a “mini-matrix organization” within an
organization
3
Functional Organization Structure
President
or General Manager
Vice president or
Director Level
Division
Level
Department
Level
Marketing
& Sales
System
Engineering
Engineering
Design
Engineering
Production
Design
Assurance
Electrical
Engineering
Reliability
Engineering
Mechanical
Engineering
Maintainability
Engineering
Materials
Engineering
Human-Factors
Engineering
Software
Engineering
Logistics
Engineering
Design
Documentation
Value/Cost
Engineering
Test &
Evaluation
Engineering
Test & Evaluation
Section
Level
Group
Level
From Dr. Philip Barry’s SYST 530
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Customer
Service
Administration
Primary building block for
most organizational
patterns
Classical or traditional
approach
Groups specialties or
disciplines into separately
identifiable entities
Perform similar activities
within one organizational
component
4
Functional Organization
Structure
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Advantages
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Easier to train within
functional area
Better technical capability
Mentoring
Cohesive
Managers and engineers
understand each other
Disadvantages
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Lack of cross-pollination
Many problems will require
multiple functions to contribute
Lack of emphasis on project
Lose top-down orientation
Hard for engineer to move to
another discipline
Requires large staff to support
Slack will cause higher overhead
From Dr. Philip Barry’s SYST 530
5
Product-Line/Project
Organization Structure
President
Company ABC
Director
Product Line X
Director
Product Line Y
Manager
Project A
Manager
Project B
Director
Product Line Z
Manager
Project C
Program management
Program management
Program management
Systems engineering
Systems engineering
Systems engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Reliability engineering
Reliability engineering
Reliability engineering
Maintainability engineering
Maintainability engineering
Maintainability engineering
Human factors
Human factors
Human factors
Components engineering
Components engineering
Components engineering
Integrated logistic support
Integrated logistic support
Integrated logistic support
From Dr. Philip Barry’s SYST 530
6
Product-Line/Project
Organization Structure
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Each project self-sufficient relative to
system design and support
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Contains its own management structure,
its own engineering function, its own
production capability, its own support
function, etc.
Each project may replicate the
functional organization structure
From Dr. Philip Barry’s SYST 530
7
Product-Line/Project
Organization Structure
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Advantages
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Team strongly focused on endproduct
Strong emphasis on project
Emphasis on customer, better
understanding of customer
Continuity of personnel, loyalty
to project
More emphasis on applied
knowledge in specialty area
Disadvantages
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Duplication of effort
Barriers to passing of
knowledge
Difficult to broaden product
base
Technology transition
Less emphasis on technical
advances in specialty area
Energy expended in
defending product line
Engineers could become
stagnant
From Dr. Philip Barry’s SYST 530
8
Matrix Organization Structure
Company DEF
Project
Management
Systems
Engineering
Project A
Program Manager
Design
Engineering
Design
Assurance
Integrated
Logistic Support
Software
Engineering
Production
& Test
Project responsibility
- Program management
- Planning & scheduling
- Configuration management
- Data management
- Supplier management
- Project review & control
Project B
Program Manager
Project C
Program Manager
Project D
Program Manager
From Dr. Philip Barry’s SYST 530
9
Matrix Organization Structure
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Tries to combine advantages of pure functional and pure
project organization
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Pure functional emphasizes technology and sacrifices project
Pure project emphasizes project and sacrifices technology
Functional managers responsible for maintaining technical
excellence and sharing it across projects
Project managers has overall responsibility and
accountability for project success
From Dr. Philip Barry’s SYST 530
10
Matrix Organization Structure
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Advantages
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Plug in right people to right job
at right time
Brings high level of domain and
functional expertise together
Share valuable expertise across
a number of projects
See disconnects in the design
earlier
Ensure customer satisfaction
Disadvantages
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Two bosses, two customers
Possibility for infighting
between project and
functional managers
Competition for resources
More managers, more
overhead
From Dr. Philip Barry’s SYST 530
11
Varying Importance of Organizational
Functions Through Life Cycle
Systems Engineering
Importance
Conceptual
Design
Preliminary
System
Design
Detail System
Design &
Development
Production
and/or
Construction
Operational
Use & System
Support
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
1
2
3
Systems Engineering
Test & Evaluation
Specialty Engineering
Customer Service
4
5
Production
Marketing & Sales
From Dr. Philip Barry’s SYST 530
12
Creating the Organizational
Environment for Systems Engineering
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Characteristics to consider when
developing an organizational structure
for the systems engineering group:
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Personnel must be highly professional,
senior level, varied backgrounds, wide
breadth of knowledge in research,
design, manufacturing, system support
Group must have vision, creativity, be
innovative, have strong general
problem solving skills
There must be spirit of teamwork
including mutual trust and respect
There must be high degree of
communication, both internally and
with external functions, both vertical
and horizontal
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To create a favorable environment:
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Must start from the top, president
or general manager level
Appropriate level of responsibility,
authority and resources must be
delegated down to head of
systems engineering
The right balance on the spectrum
of autocratic to democratic
leadership must exist between VP
of engineering, the PM, & the SEM
From Dr. Philip Barry’s SYST 530
13
Functional Considerations For
Systems Engineering
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Systems Engineering Management
Architecture Development
Requirements Engineering
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System
Subsystem/Design
Software
Interface
Configuration Management and
Interface Control
Risk Management
Technology Assessment
System Analysis
System Modeling & Simulation
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CMMI Processes & Procedures
Design and Development
Interfaces
Integration and Test Interfaces
Specialty Engineering
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Information Assurance
Security
Reliability, Availability,
Maintainability
…
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Artifact Considerations for
Systems Engineering
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Plans:
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Systems Engineering Plan
Configuration Management
Plan
Risk Management Plan
Test and Evaluation Master
Plan
Processes & Procedures
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Requirements Documents
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System Requirements
Documents
Design Requirements
Software Requirements
Interface Requirements
Architecture Artifacts
Simulation and Models
Trade Studies and Analyses
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Other Considerations for Systems
Engineering Organization
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The “Systems Engineering” activities and artifacts
identified in the previous two charts may be
assigned to a “Systems Engineering” Organization
or to other organizations depending on:
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Project Manager
Customer
Customer Organizational Structure
Systems Engineering Artifacts Desired/ Funded
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Sample Systems Engineering Organization
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Core SE Functions:
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SE Management
Requirements (Analysis Development & Management)
System Concepts and Analysis
System Architecture*
System Modeling and Simulations*
Specialty Engineering*
Optional SE Functions:
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Configuration Management
Risk Management
17
Integrated Product/Process Teams (IPTs)
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Typical IPT is formed to develop a
specific product or process
It is composed of representatives
from each of the stakeholder
organizations
Generally all IPTs will include a
Systems Engineer to ensure that
SE is being integrated into the
activities of the IPTs and the IPT
artifacts are integrated into the
SE process
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Example:
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Systems Engineering IPT
(for SE Artifacts)
Design/Development IPT
(for Des/Dev Artifacts)
Integration and Test IPT (for
T&E Artifacts)
Modeling and Simulation IPT
(for M&S Artifacts)
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Summary and Conclusions
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Generally a Project should organize
itself in a way that is compatible with its
Customer.
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