Abstract
The delivery of large-scale technical systems is achieved through project organizing. The concept of systems integration, with its distinct focus on the systems that projects deliver, is theoretically important as projects become more complex and face significant uncertainty. We reframe systems integration in interorganizational projects as a flexible and adaptive process of making constituent parts of systems work together. This process involves boundary-spanning structures and activities to address emergent complexity and uncertainty (that are both technological and organizational in nature). We discuss implications and highlight areas for further research on projects.
Highlights
Systems integration is the process of making constituent parts of systems work together
We argue that systems integration, with its distinct focus on the systems that projects deliver, is theoretically important for addressing how project complexity and uncertainty are managed
While each approach seeks to address complexity and uncertainty, we argue that the technical concerns of engineering and the organizational concerns of management cannot be separately addressed to accomplish systems integration but need to be combined
Summary
Systems integration is the process of making constituent parts of systems work together. The large-scale technical systems that interorganizational projects deliver, such as the Sydney Opera House and Channel Tunnel, are often transformative for societies Their delivery is intrinsically bound with forms of project organizing, shaped through work across their emergent technological and organizational boundaries. These focus on aspects of systems integration: approaching it as phase, specialist function, project-level technical process, and program-wide strategic function. These four approaches are identified through an interpretive review of work on systems integration across the engineering and management literatures and many conversations with project
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