Premium
5.2.2 Complexity Measures to Predict System Development Project Outcomes
Author(s) -
Sheard Sarah A.,
Mostashari Ali
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
incose international symposium
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2334-5837
DOI - 10.1002/j.2334-5837.2013.tb03011.x
Subject(s) - complexity management , schedule , computer science , ranking (information retrieval) , project management , outcome (game theory) , risk analysis (engineering) , stakeholder , cognitive complexity , set (abstract data type) , operations research , business , engineering , systems engineering , cognition , economics , psychology , marketing , artificial intelligence , management , mathematical economics , operating system , neuroscience , programming language
While it is broadly accepted that complexity makes system development harder, there is no concrete understanding of which types of complexity have the most significant impact. Looking beyond current literature which describes complexity or measures the complexity of a system, this research seeks complexity measures that directly affect development project outcomes: project cost overrun, project schedule delay, and system performance shortfalls. A set of complexity measures was developed based on a comprehensive literature analysis and ranking via a trade study. The effect of those measures on project outcome was studied for 75 systems development efforts, primarily in the aerospace and defense sector. The findings indicate that among the dozens of complexity measures discussed in the literature, the three measures with the most significant impacts on development outcomes in these projects were: number of hard‐to‐meet requirements, degree of cognitive fog, and stability of stakeholder relationships.