The Guide treats engineering economics as an element of every recognized engineering discipline. Economics here is the science of choice. Engineering is paraphrased as finding the balance between what is technically feasible and what is economically acceptable. Software engineering must be value-based: an organization's investment should not continue if it does not produce positive value. The decision process includes understanding the real problem, identifying technically feasible solutions, defining selection criteria, evaluating alternatives against those criteria, selecting the preferred alternative, and monitoring its performance.[1]
The Guide's top-level topics for this knowledge area are:
- Software Engineering Economics Fundamentals
- The Engineering Decision-Making Process
- For-Profit Decision-Making
- Nonprofit Decision-Making
- Present Economy Decision-Making
- Multiple-Attribute Decision-Making
- Identifying and Characterizing Intangible Assets
- Estimation
- Practical Considerations
- Related Concepts