Track: Operations Management

Abstract

Operations work best when addressed from a systems perspective. Innovation is pervasive and ubiquitous globally these days. Unfortunately, the advertised potentials don’t always rise to the level of expectations because of organizational and operational impediments. This is particularly essential when unification is desired across boundaries of commerce, partnerships, and cooperation. In this regard, a system is a collection of interrelated elements whose collective output, together and in unison, is higher than the mere sum of the individual outputs. For a Systems approach to be practical, profitable, realizable, and sustainable, systematic frameworks must be instituted, subject to real-world constraints. In as much as everyone is clamoring for innovation, it is imperative that effective approaches be utilized to harness quantitative and qualitative methodologies. In this presentation, the DEJI (Design, Evaluation, Justification, and Integration) Systems Model will be used as the basis for mitigating organizational and operational impediments to innovation. Design, in this context, generically covers several objectives, including planning, conceptualization, organizing, brainstorming, negotiation, and so on. The systems approach of Design leads to a structured requirement to conduct a formal Evaluation, followed by a rigorous Justification, followed by, above all, Integration. Programs often fail due to a lack of sustainable integration of efforts. The DEJI Systems Model forces a structured and rewarding approach to what could, otherwise, become disjointed efforts. With the structured methodology of this presentation, a practical decision framework can be developed. The DEJI Systems Model was originally developed for product development purposes, but it has been successfully applied in business, industry, academia, and government examples. Viewing the accomplishments of any organization pursuit as “products,” it is envisioned that the template of DEJI could be effectively applied by any organization in business, industry, academia, government, or the military. Embedded within the DEJI Systems Model is the Triple-C approach of Communication, Cooperation, and Coordination. Literature references are plentiful for both techniques of DEJI Systems Model and Triple-C Model. This presentation will provide guidelines on how to apply both, together or separately, in organizational settings.