Understanding how problem formulation in systems engineering influences system affordability: A systems thinking investigation

Systems engineering is promoted as the engineering discipline that facilitates success in the development of large-scale systems; yet these continue to significantly fail in all major dimensions: Performance, cost, and schedule. Requirements are the cornerstone of this discipline because they often set the boundary conditions on which systems are developed, but their capability to influence system affordability seems questionable. The present research explores current practices of requirements engineering and, using systems thinking, investigates how they influence system affordability. A set of measures is proposed by the authors that would enable an active use of requirements engineering to facilitate the development of affordable systems.