Robust Project-Based Organizations for the Design of Complex Engineered Systems

Abstract

Cost and schedule overruns have become increasingly common in projects that set out to deliver complex engineered systems. Considering the well-established relationship between systems and organizations that design them, this article compares real-world, project-based organizational forms to idealized forms using agent-based models. It identifies multiscale networks as the preferred theoretical form and structures based on military staffs as the preferred practical form for organizations that design complex engineered systems. Matrix organizations are particularly susceptible to congestion failure, whereas military staffs are more robust and better suited to meeting demands for cross-functional collaboration and communication.