Title: Governance in systems of systems: a systems-based model

Authors: Behnido Y. Calida; Raed M. Jaradat; Sawsan Abutabenjeh; Charles B. Keating

Addresses: Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), 3500 Transportation Research Plaza, USA ' Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Mississippi State University, 260P McCain Engineering Building, P.O. Box 9542, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA ' Department of Political Sciences, Center for Public Management and Regional Affairs, Miami University, 119 Harrison Hall, Oxford, Oh 45056, USA ' Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, National Centers for System of Systems Engineering, Old Dominion University, 2101 Engineering Systems Building, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA

Abstract: Many concepts associated with governance and governance systems fall short in their capacity to influence or 'steer' towards intended ideals, goals or desired outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to propose a model for complex governance systems that provides an alternative viewpoint based on systems theoretic principles. This effort supports a system-of-systems (SoS) governance concept that examines: 1) a governed system - the target of governance structure and activities; 2) a governing system - the direct controller that provides regulatory capacity of the governed system; 3) a meta-governance system - a metasystem that strategically influences the 'governing' system directly and the 'governed' system indirectly; 4) the contextual environment - as anything external to the articulated SoS boundary. The main contribution of this paper is a set of systems-based concepts representing governance that will enhance the dialog and foster better understanding the governance construct as well as the associated phenomena for design, development, and performance of governance for complex systems of systems.

Keywords: complex systems; system governance; systems thinking; multidisciplinary problems; systems of systems; SoS.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSE.2016.080313

International Journal of System of Systems Engineering, 2016 Vol.7 No.4, pp.235 - 257

Received: 03 Dec 2015
Accepted: 20 Jan 2016
Published online: 14 Nov 2016 *

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