Affiliations: Systems Engineering & Evaluation Centre,
University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia Honourcode, Inc., Pensacola,
FL, USA | M.J. Neeley School of Business, Texas Christian
University, Fort Worth, TX, USA
Abstract: Many systems of systems (SoS) occur today through the collaboration
of multiple stakeholders, without any clear authority or direction at the SoS
level. Examples include a supply chain, an airport, and the Internet. Because
of the uncontrolled interactions, such a SoS exhibits complexity behaviors such
as reflexivity, emergence, self-organization, and adaptation. This paper
presents underlying theory to explain a methodology for dynamic optimization of
SoS, in which the stakeholders make changes based on local perceptions of the
value of the SoS. Each stakeholder has a different local perception of value,
measured against an objective function that may be unique to the stakeholder.
As the stakeholder compares perceived value to desired value, the stakeholder
attempts to optimize the SoS from its own point of view by making decisions
that lead to SoS changes. These changes then affect other stakeholders,
resulting in a dynamic architecture and implementation of the SoS. We present
the optimizing value proposition of each stakeholder in terms of a quantifiable
objective function based on the life-cycle value of the SoS to that
stakeholder, and we present the dynamic interaction as a model of
self-organization. An example based on supply chain management demonstrates the
approach.
Keywords: systems of systems, complexity, complex adaptive systems, optimization, value
