The Engaporean Air-Defence Upgrade: A Framework for a Case Study development project

Abstract

Case studies have been shown to be a very effective way of learning, however the few case studies available in the systems engineering literature document the 'what' of the situation and fail to provide the 'why'; the insight into the reason for the decisions. This lack of the 'why' is an undesirable situation because students will potentially be in similar situations in their futures and need to understand the reasons behind the decisions so they can make their own informed decisions. This paper addresses that gap and instead of providing yet another case study, it provides a framework or architecture for a case in which students can perform the activities and develop an understanding of not only the 'what's but the 'why's as well providing a broad overview with plenty of scope for discussion and exercises in each phase of the system development lifecycle (SDLC). The bulk of this paper sets out the timeline for, and provides a high level description of, the Air-Defence system upgrade process in the fictitious nation of Engaporia. The last section of the paper points out some of the extension opportunities currently planned as well as proving a number of discussion points and exercises. © 2013 by Joseph Kasser.