This chapter applies the Systems Decision Process (SDP) to the practice of
Project Management (PM) through the lens of the defense industry, using applicable
case studies and realistic examples. Systems thinking enables project managers to
identify the root causes of problems they face, assess the risks associated with different
alternatives, recognize the interconnected relationships and dependencies between
system elements, and ultimately make informed decisions to meet their clients’ needs.
The SDP’s Problem Definition phase ensures that the project manager considers the
needs of all stakeholders within the broader environment, which is often vast in the
defense sector, and establishes clear boundaries for the scope of work. Solution Design
directs the project manager’s focus to generating value-based alternatives that optimize
outcomes within clear budget constraints, informing their choices as they transition into
the Decision Making phase. Through the employment of value scoring methods,
sensitivity and risk analysis, and tradeoff analysis, the project manager executes their
plan during the Solution Implementation phase of the SDP. The SDP augments and
enhances the most accepted approaches to PM by providing project managers with a
clear and repeatable decision-making process that explicitly considers the systems’
nature of the problem and focuses on stakeholder value when making decisions. This is
invaluable as project managers make decisions in complex and dynamic environments,
such as the defense industry. While Multi-Criteria Value Modeling (MCVM) is
essential in the early phases of a project, it also serves as an invaluable tool for project
managers as they encounter change order requests during execution, continuously
conduct quality control and assurance, and ensure final deliverables are met while
closing out a project.
Keywords: Decision making, Multi-Criteria Value Modeling (MCVM), Problem definition, Project environment, Solution design, Solution implementation, Stakeholder analysis, Systems decision process (SDP), Systems thinking, Valuefocused thinking.
