IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/syseng/v18y2015i4p377-395.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Architecting Technology Transition Pathways: Insights from the Military Tactical Network Upgrade

Author

Listed:
  • Zoe Szajnfarber
  • Linda McCabe
  • Amanda Rohrbach

Abstract

As engineering systems become more and more complex, technology transition increasingly involves deploying an upgraded subsystem across a legacy network. This mode of upgrade presents new challenges for systems architects concerned with maintaining value over multiple infused technical changes. This paper explores the dynamics of technology transition in path‐dependent infrastructure systems. It uses a model‐based case study of the envisioned military airborne tactical network upgrade as a basis for developing guidelines for effective transition path design. Based on the natural diffusion dynamics of the system we identified an inherent tradeoff between upgrade cycle and sustained capability levels. In other words, assuming even weakly exponential growth in demand, there is a relationship between timing of infusion and longevity of benefit. As a result, a less capable upgrade, deployed expediently can do more good than a more sophisticated upgrade that can only be integrated in the next block upgrade. In addition, by conceptualizing the transition “path” as a design lever, two dimensions of problem decomposition can be exploited to mitigate transition barriers: (1) self‐contained subnetworks can provide a proving ground for full‐system future benefits in order to mitigate stakeholder resistance; and (2) the technical system can be designed for evolvability, making it possible to stage deployment in the technical dimension as well.

Suggested Citation

  • Zoe Szajnfarber & Linda McCabe & Amanda Rohrbach, 2015. "Architecting Technology Transition Pathways: Insights from the Military Tactical Network Upgrade," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(4), pages 377-395, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:syseng:v:18:y:2015:i:4:p:377-395
    DOI: 10.1002/sys.21311
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sys.21311
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sys.21311?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. George J. Stigler, 1971. "The Theory of Economic Regulation," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 2(1), pages 3-21, Spring.
    2. Utterback, James M & Abernathy, William J, 1975. "A dynamic model of process and product innovation," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 3(6), pages 639-656, December.
    3. Adam M. Ross & Donna H. Rhodes & Daniel E. Hastings, 2008. "Defining changeability: Reconciling flexibility, adaptability, scalability, modifiability, and robustness for maintaining system lifecycle value," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(3), pages 246-262, September.
    4. Adams, Walter & Adams, William James, 1972. "The Military-Industrial Complex: A Market Structure Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(2), pages 279-287, May.
    5. Tom Herald & Dinesh Verma & Caroline Lubert & Robert Cloutier, 2009. "An obsolescence management framework for system baseline evolution—Perspectives through the system life cycle," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(1), pages 1-20, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Duncan Thomas K. & Coyne Christopher J., 2015. "The Revolving Door and the Entrenchment of the Permanent War Economy," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 21(3), pages 391-413, August.
    2. Persson, Torsten & Tabellini, Guido, 2002. "Political economics and public finance," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 24, pages 1549-1659, Elsevier.
    3. Scott Gehlbach & Konstantin Sonin & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2010. "Businessman Candidates," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(3), pages 718-736, July.
    4. Baldwin, Carliss Y. & Bogers, Marcel L.A.M. & Kapoor, Rahul & West, Joel, 2024. "Focusing the ecosystem lens on innovation studies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(3).
    5. Thomas Wyrick & Roger Arnold, 1989. "Earmarking as a deterrent to rent-seeking," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 283-291, March.
    6. Pavel Ciaian & Ján Pokrivčák & Dušan Drabik, 2008. "Prečo sú niektoré sektory v tranzitívnych ekonomikách menej reformované ako ostatné? prípad výskumu a vzdelávania v oblasti ekonómie [Why some sectors of transition economies are less reformed than," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2008(6), pages 819-836.
    7. Kris James Mitchener & Matthew Jaremski, 2014. "The Evolution of Bank Supervision: Evidence from U.S. States," NBER Working Papers 20603, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Masciandaro, D. & Nieto, M. & Prast, H.M., 2007. "Financial Governance of Banking Supervision," Other publications TiSEM 65d7ff26-dca3-4da3-86ff-6, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    9. Roger Hayter & Klaus Edenhoffer, 2016. "Evolutionary Geography of a Mature Resource Sector: Shakeouts and Shakeins in British Columbia's Forest Industries 1980 to 2008," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 497-519, December.
    10. J. Mark Ramseyer & Eric Rasmusen, 2013. "Lowering the Bar to Raise the Bar: Licensing Difficulty and Attorney Quality in Japan," Working Papers 2013-12, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy.
    11. Grant H. Lewis, 2017. "Effects of federal socioeconomic contracting preferences," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 763-783, December.
    12. Rausser, Gordon C. & de Janvry, Alain & Schmitz, Andrew & Zilberman, David D., 1980. "Principal issues in the evaluation of public research in agriculture," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt74v9m7dh, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    13. Arvind Magesan & Matthew A. Turner, 2008. "The Value of Information in Public Decisions," Working Papers tecipa-345, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    14. Arblaster, Margaret & Zhang, Chrystal, 2020. "Liberalisation of airport air traffic control: A case study of Spain," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 38-47.
    15. Deniz Igan & Prachi Mishra & Thierry Tressel, 2012. "A Fistful of Dollars: Lobbying and the Financial Crisis," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(1), pages 195-230.
    16. Elert, Niklas & Henrekson, Magnus, 2017. "Entrepreneurship and Institutions: A Bidirectional Relationship," Working Paper Series 1153, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 05 May 2017.
    17. Schnellenbach, Jan & Schubert, Christian, 2015. "Behavioral political economy: A survey," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 40(PB), pages 395-417.
    18. Cecere, Grazia & Corrocher, Nicoletta & Battaglia, Riccardo David, 2015. "Innovation and competition in the smartphone industry: Is there a dominant design?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 162-175.
    19. Ieda Margarete Oro & Carlos Eduardo Facin Lavarda, 2017. "Interaction Between Strategy and Organizational Performance: The Influence of Family Management," Brazilian Business Review, Fucape Business School, vol. 14(5), pages 493-509, September.
    20. Hahn, Robert & Evans, Lewis, 2010. "Regulating Dynamic Markets: Progress in Theory and Practice," Working Paper Series 4052, Victoria University of Wellington, The New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:syseng:v:18:y:2015:i:4:p:377-395. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1520-6858 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.