Complex systems management competency for technology modernization

Abstract

Industrial technology modernization requires solutions to the problems of the complex systems evolution. Entities involved in the process of modernization lack unified centralized control and act as standalone businesses, while stakeholders in the processes pursue their own, all too often conflicting interests. Having to operate amid severe external uncertainty, these standalone businesses act as isolated agents, with their make-up changing at different periods, yet the success of technology modernization depends on their coordinated action. It is critical for the success of the system evolution to have enough highly qualified personnel with expertise and competencies, engineering and economic ones in the first place, that match the complexity of the systems being managed. The article analyzes the tasks that pop up throughout the course of modernization. The analysis is used as a basis for defining engineering and economic competencies and for substantiating their significance as a key resource of the industrial systems of the future. This assumption finds a confirmation in a summary of appropriate global trends done by the authors. Systems engineering is used as a case of the application of the competencies as part of methodologies that were created in response to challenges associated with the growing complexity of technological and organizational systems. The study also gives examples of the need for engineering and economic competencies arising in the course of technology modernization in the electric power industry. © 2017 WIT Press.