Systems engineering metrics and applications in product development: A critical literature review and agenda for further research

The military-aerospace industries have several decades of experience in the application of systems engineering. In the world of complex systems developed under contract, systems engineering has a well-articulated, generally accepted, client-mandated methodology. This is not the case currently in most commercially oriented research and development organizations. Unlike the military-aerospace environment, it is not widely accepted that systems engineering can or will deliver value within commercial enterprises. This said, it is possible that a systems engineering-like methodology may be routinely employed but not so stated, or is recognized under a different label. This seems likely since complex products continue to be successfully developed and commercialized via the use of methods that are closely related to systems engineering. The purpose of this paper is to establish the groundwork for measuring the effectiveness of the systems engineering methodology, and closely associated analogs, as part of the product development process in a commercial research and development organization. In this paper, we review the literature in systems engineering and related fields to identify measurement issues and methodologies, specific metrics proposed and in use, and case studies and best practices. We also identify gaps in the literature and propose the next steps in a research agenda. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng