Title: Project manager and systems engineer: a literature rich reflection on roles and responsibilities

Authors: Giorgio Locatelli; Mauro Mancini; Erika Romano

Addresses: School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK ' Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambruschini 4/B Milano, Italy ' Deloitte Financial Advisory S.r.l., Via Tortona 25, 20144 Milano, Italy

Abstract: There are several definitions of systems engineering (SE) in the literature, each with different definitions of its relationship with project management (PM), causing a great deal of misunderstanding. This paper offers a broad and critical discussion of the relevant literature with a deep reflection concerning the historical evolution and state-of the-art of both the definition of SE and its relationship with PM. This endeavour provides two main results: 1) a conceptual framework to define SE in a project-based environment; 2) a model to identify the best formal interactions between the project manager and system engineer based on the project characteristics.

Keywords: systems engineering; project manager; PMer; complex projects; leadership; megaproject; project organisation; stakeholders.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPOM.2017.087577

International Journal of Project Organisation and Management, 2017 Vol.9 No.3, pp.195 - 216

Received: 16 May 2016
Accepted: 25 Nov 2016
Published online: 21 Oct 2017 *

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