Systems engineering is an approach to the engineering of systems that demonstrates improved performance over other approaches. The foundation of systems engineering is a set of principles that always apply, supported by a set of process tools that are used selectively and with varying degrees of formality. One of the principles of systems engineering is the practice of configuration management. Systems engineering activities create the requirements and design information that are the main focus of configuration management. Configuration management is an activity within systems engineering management. Systems engineering management is engineering management where systems engineering principles are being applied in performing and managing the engineering.