The Need for Systems Awareness to Support Early-Phase Decision-Making—A Study from the Norwegian Energy Industry

• Published in: Systems (Basel) Vol. 9; no. 3; p. 47
• Main Authors: Engen, Siv, Falk, Kristin, Muller, Gerrit
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-09-2021
• Subjects: Business models; Capital expenditures; Context; Decision making; Energy industry; Engineering; Gas industry; key drivers; systems architecting; systems awareness; systems context; Systems development; systems of systems
• ISSN: 2079-8954; 2079-8954
• DOI: 10.3390/systems9030047

In this paper, we explore the need to improve systems awareness to support early-phase decision-making. This research uses the Norwegian energy industry as context. This industry deals with highly complex engineering systems that shall operate remotely for 25+ years. Through an in-depth study in a systems supplier company, we find that engineers are not sufficiently aware of the systems operational context and do not focus on the context in the early phase. We identified the lack of a holistic mindset and the challenge of balancing internal strategy and customers’ needs as the prevalent barriers. To support the concept evaluation, the subsea system suppliers need to raise systems awareness in the early phase. The study identifies four aspects that are important to consider when developing and implementing approaches to improve systems awareness in the early phase.