Abstract
In this chapter I will analyze the concept of boundary and the rationale behind considering elements part of a system in three key systems engineering texts. Using examples of electric power systems in Europe being sociotechnical systems, I will argue three points. (1) First, I will argue that the systems engineering approach excludes certain elements from its conceptual representation of systems that are essential for the functioning of sociotechnical systems. (2) Secondly I will argue that the rationale behind this exclusion is based on an understanding of the behavior of its elements and their relations that leaves no space for the ‘missing’ elements. Therefore simply adding the elements is not an option. (3) And thirdly I will argue that because those left-out elements have a vital impact on (the functioning of) the system, a systems engineering methodology that does not and cannot take this vital impact into account is not fit for the practice of designing and managing even just the technical part of sociotechnical systems.
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Notes
- 1.
Similar remarks can be made about electric power systems elsewhere, but I will focus on the European system.
- 2.
International Organization for Standardization (ISO 2002).
- 3.
IEEE (2005).
- 4.
International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE 2004).
- 5.
The three quotes come from the respective websites of the organizations: http://www.iso.org, http://www.ieee.org and http://www.incose.org (Accessed March 27, 2008).
- 6.
Technically speaking this should be called impedance, but I will use the term resistance instead for the purpose of clarity.
- 7.
“Elements of AC systems supply (or produce) and consume (or absorb or lose) two kinds of power: real power and reactive” (O’Neill et al. 2005, p. 17). Already terminology wise this is puzzling, since reactive power is not less real than “real power”. I will not explain the difference between this real and reactive power here (you can read (O’Neill et al. 2005) or search the internet for a good explanation). For my analysis it is only important to understand that both these kinds of power are needed to keep electricity power systems up and running, but that we (as consumers) only get billed for the use of real power. Reactive power is needed, for example, to transmit high amounts of real power over long distances. It can be generated, just as real power can be generated, and it can be provided or absorbed locally by respectively capacitors and inductors. Generation, however, is the main source of reactive power.
- 8.
“For almost a century, electricity policy and practice were geared to the vertically integrated utility. Tradeoffs between generation and transmission investments were largely internal company decisions and, for the most part, out of the public view” (O’Neill et al. 2005, p. 21).
- 9.
I say “theoretically” here, but during the California energy crisis in 2000, suppliers intentionally turned of power plants in order to drive up electricity prices, indeed creating an “unknown” on the supply side.
- 10.
“On August 14, 2003, large portions of the Midwest and Northeast United States and Ontario, Canada, experienced an electric power blackout. The outage affected an area with an estimated 50 million people and 61,800 megawatts (MW) of electric load” (Liscouski et al. 2004, p. 1).
- 11.
Union for the Co-ordination of Transmission of Electricity.
- 12.
Here I use an understanding of technical element that excludes rules on their own, like an algorithm used in software. In order to be a technical element, I argue, these algorithms need to be encoded in concrete, and they need to be executed. In this understanding procedures, prescribing human behavior, can only be considered technical if executed.
- 13.
“… the challenge is to understand the boundary of the system, … and the relationships and interfaces between this system and other systems” (IEEE 2005).
- 14.
“Design Constraints. The boundary conditions within which the developer must remain while allocating performance requirements and/or synthesizing system elements” (INCOSE 2004, p. 278). “The project identifies and defines external constraints that impact design solutions” (IEEE 2005, p. 40).
- 15.
“These constraints constitute the sociopolitical climate under which commercial or industrial activities are regulated and include environmental protection regulations, safety regulations, technological constraints, and other regulations established by federal and local government agencies to protect the interests of consumers. Additionally, international, government, and industry standards and general specifications constrain enterprise and project activities and design options” (IEEE 2005, p. 69).
- 16.
“Define the functional boundary of the system” (ISO 2002, p. 27).
- 17.
Regarding a rationale for drawing boundaries the IEEE standard brings up the question: “Which system elements are under design control of the project and which fall outside their control” (IEEE 2005, p. 40).
- 18.
An Oxford English Dictionary definition.
- 19.
In “A Functional Legal Design for Reliable Electricity Supply” Knops argues for an inclusion of legislation in the design of electric power systems. Legislation, as Knops (2007) argues is both designed and fulfills a function. However, to be able to argue this he stretches the understanding of these concepts beyond the understanding used in systems engineering.
- 20.
Engineering theory is prescriptive, it will give guidelines for the behavior of engineers, analyzing, modeling, designing and managing systems. Engineering practice deals with real-life problems, concrete situations that might or might not fit the conceptual representation at the basis of the prescriptive guidelines. Engineers can and do deviate from theory, taking approaches different from what the theory prescribes.
References
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ISO. 2002. ISO/IEC 15288, Systems Engineering – System Life Cycle Processes, ISO/IEC.
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M. Ottens, M. (2009). Limits to Systems Engineering. In: Poel, I., Goldberg, D. (eds) Philosophy and Engineering:. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2804-4_10
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