Abstract: Projects and programs should create value. That is the desire and plan, but uncertainties cloud the paths to this destination. Conventional techniques such as earned value management (EVM) focus on time and cost but do not address technical performance, uncertainty, risk, and opportunity. This tutorial introduces a project/program value, risk, and opportunity (PVRO) framework that integrates systems engineering with project management and marketing. PVRO incorporates the concepts of key performance indicators (KPIs), technical performance measures (TPMs), risk reduction profiles, value/utility functions, probability distributions, and activity networks. It accounts for progress and added value in product development as a function of the useful information produced. PVRO supports planning, monitoring, control, and tradeoff decision support. An example project, developing a drone aircraft, demonstrates the framework’s application to project design and tracking, including setting project goals that balance risk and opportunity. New indices for risk, opportunity, and learning are introduced that focus all project participants on common objectives and measures of progress.
This tutorial introduces the PVRO framework and example applications useful to product developers, systems engineers, and project and program managers. Examples are presented from several industries. Participants will engage in hands-on exercises and come away with a clearer understanding of the drivers of project/program value in the presence of uncertainty. Participants will receive a copy of the presentation materials and access to free tools that can be applied immediately for quick results and insights.
Biography Tyson Browning: Dr. Tyson R. Browning (www.TysonBrowning.com) is an internationally recognized speaker and expert in methods for managing complex projects. He is Professor of Operations Management at the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas, where he teaches MBA courses on Operations Management, Project Management, Risk Management, and Process Improvement and conducts research on managing complex projects and processes. He has previous work experience with Lockheed Martin, Lean Aerospace Initiative, Honeywell Space Systems, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, and he has consulted for organizations such as BNSF Railways, General Motors, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Seagate, Siemens, Southern California Edison, U.S. Navy, and two European consortia on complex systems.Dr. Browning has two Master’s degrees and a Ph.D. from MIT. He has authored numerous papers for conferences and journals, including IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Journal of Mechanical Design, Project Management Journal, as well as ten papers in Systems Engineering. He has been an INCOSE member since 1995. He has served as an Associate Editor for Systems Engineering, as a Department Editor for IEEE-TEM, and is currently the co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Operations Management. He co-authored the book Design Structure Matrix Methods and Applications (MIT Press, 2012).