Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, February 2015. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 50-51). / Machine learning algorithms used for natural language processing (NLP) currently take too long to complete their learning function. This slow learning performance tends to make the model ineffective for an increasing requirement for real time applications such as voice transcription, language translation, text summarization topic extraction and sentiment analysis. Moreover, current implementations are run in an offline batch-mode operation and are unfit for real time needs. Newer machine learning algorithms are being designed that make better use of sampling and distributed methods to speed up the learning performance. In my thesis, I identify unmet market opportunities where machine learning is not employed in an optimum fashion. I will provide system level suggestions and analyses that could improve the performance, accuracy and relevance. / by Sabin M. Thomas. / S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2010. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 94-96). / Today, our society is surrounded by information system, computers, and software. It is no exaggeration to say that our daily life depends on software and its function. Accordingly, the business of software has made miraculous growth in the last two decades and is playing a significant role in various industries. In accordance with the growing business needs for effective software and information systems, various firms in various countries have entered the business of software seeking for prosperity. Some have succeeded, some have failed. What distinguishes these firms is its ability to manage and deliver quality products on demand, on time, at a low cost. To achieve such goal, software firms have thought out different methods and tools striving to establish its practice. Nevertheless, many software firms around the globe are struggling to satisfy its clients to achieve business success. With no exception, Japanese software firms are facing difficulties of managing software projects. While its ability to deliver high quality product is well acknowledged among software industry, its high cost structure and schedule delays are thought of as serious problems. Moreover, some of the transitions in the industry are forcing Japanese software firms to seek new opportunities. Therefore, it is important for Japanese software firms to establish more productive ways of developing software products and effective business strategies. Primal objective of this paper is to analyze the present conditions of Japanese software firms and to derive some recommendations which could enhance its current situation. It will also include the discussion of software development practices in US and India firms to better understand strength and weaknesses of Japanese firms and capture some important concepts which can be applied to improve current practice. / by Kenichiro Inada. / S.M.in System Design and Management

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2015. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Page 87 blank. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 67-68). / In technology oriented organizations like those enclosed in the Automotive Industry, effective communication and collaboration are core competencies that, when properly managed, generate a constant flow of information and ideas that can keep activated the innovation process inside the organization. The complex architecture of the communication systems and their close relationship with the organizational structure have been previously studied to help organizations improve their communication and overcome their own unique challenges. In this thesis, I review the communication system of a Product Development Organization (PDO) along with the influence that the organizational structure has in the communication process complexity. I explain how the opportune identification of the key individuals in the communication system that serve as gatekeepers of the technological information is critical to the success of product development processes and innovation progress. Finally, a survey in an automotive PDO was conducted with the aim to understand how the communication system currently works and integrate the technological gatekeeper concept as a strategy to reinforce the transfer of technological information that increases effectiveness of execution along with innovation. / by Alhely Almazan Morales. / S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2012. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 149-155). / In 2010, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) spent more than $35 billion on information systems development and sustainment, with nearly $7 billion to defense business systems investments alone. It is not surprising given the scale of expenditure and complexity of the enterprise that its track record on business systems investments has not been great. Indeed, the DoD's investment management practices have been the target of many studies identifying critical concerns with how the taxpayers' dollars are spent. The get-well plan, according to these same studies, is to apply "industry best practices" to achieve the same results. Yet this view fails to adequately account for the underlying issues that give rise to these symptoms. Mistrust and confusion in governance decision structures, strategic goal misalignment, externally driven metrics that incentivize the wrong behavior, and a culture of guarding rather than sharing information were among the dominant challenges identified through stakeholder interviews. Cross-cutting issues included language barriers between the Services and Corporate DoD that impede knowledge integration and complicate performance measurement. These systemic foundational problems are deeply rooted in the nature of this public administration network and in the cultures of its strongly independent member institutions. Resolving these dysfunctional characteristics requires more than a transformation "playbook" of best practice initiatives. This research sets the trajectory for meaningful progress in defense business systems investment planning and management by outlining the fundamental changes that must occur, anchored by a more robust and transparent governance framework. / by Dustin P. Ziegler. / S.M.in Engineering and Management

Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2011. / "June 2011." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references. / In recent years, supply chain pundits and consultants emphasized the importance of strategies such as just-in-time, lean manufacturing, off- shoring or frequent deliveries to retail outlets. However, with significant economic changes, rising labor costs in developing countries, huge volatility in oil and other commodity prices, and new regulations such as carbon emission caps, some of these strategies may imperil the supply chain. At the same time, logistics and supply chain management have been the focus of executive meetings, business columns and research institutes as never before. The importance of integrated, globally optimized supply chains is well understood and it seems that in many companies executives have discovered the impact on business performance that can be achieved by effectively managing their supply chains. With all these changes and pressure, it will be quite remarkable if supply chain is not an important topic in the agenda of today's CEOs and CFOs. This study tries to answer questions such as - Is Supply Chain Management an important topic on the agenda of today's business leaders, in particular CEOs and CFOs? If it is on the agenda, what specifically is included? - risk management, cost cutting or new channels? If SCM is not directly on the CEOs/CFOs agenda, what is on their agenda? Is there a link between SCM and these topics? To gain insight into these issues, the research team collected data from about 200 companies across a variety of industries. Our results indicate not only a link between the executive agenda and supply chain strategies but also that business and financial performance go hand in hand with supply chain performance. The research results indicate significant difference between Cost-Efficient and Responsive supply chain strategies and an overall increasing drive towards flexibility. The research identifies the key supply chain strategies that could give the optimal results from operational, business and financial perspectives. / by James Paul Peruvankal. / S.M.in System Design and Management

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2013. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 61-62). / Companies in the high-tech industry can pursue a range of strategies around delivering value to their customers. A technology focus strategy enables organizations to offer to their customers products that feature best-in-class performance along certain parameters. A solution focus strategy enables organizations to offer their customers an integrated set of products and services that are customized for their specific contexts. A tradeoff often exists between the two strategies and organizations have to choose the mix of resource allocation between technology investments and solution investments. Determining the appropriate balance between technology focus and solution focus is often an area of struggle for high-tech companies. This thesis uses literature research to identify existing frameworks for determining where a company should be on the continuum between technology focus strategy and solution focus strategy and when a company should shift, expand, or contract its footprint along that continuum. The thesis will then examine a sample of companies that occupy varying technology/solution focus positions, evaluate the applicability of the frameworks in the case of these companies as well as use the frameworks to try to justify any repositioning that those companies may have undergone or are currently undergoing and possibly to make suggestions on a future strategic course. / by Wassim Bassalee. / S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2015. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 83-88). / This thesis is concerned with understanding the question on why, for several decades, engineers and project managers were experiencing similar frustrations when engineering and managing systems-of-systems despite various technological and organizational efforts. The first objective of this thesis is to identify the common frustrations in the area of System-of-Systems operations, management and system engineering. A second objective is to understand the systemic causes of these frustrations using different system engineering methods and tools. A series of interviews with mid-career experts from different disciplines were conducted in order to capture expert knowledge. Half of them were end-users from U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) while the other half represented the defense industry. A total of twelve common themes were observed: Technical Challenges: 1) Poor Requirements Engineering, 2) High Complexity and Magnitude of SoS, 3) Complex Stakeholder Management, 4) Evolving SoS Requirements. Management 'Pain Points': 5) Lack of Strong Leadership, 6) Misalignment between Industry & End-users, 7) Unstable Budget Environment, 8) Limited Information Available, 9) Information Compartmentalization. 10) High Turnover Rate Organizational Influences: 11) Excessive Bureaucracy, 12) Risk Avoidance Culture. By applying causal loop analysis and comparing the findings against current literature, a total of seven insights are identified: 1) Adopting Systems Thinking Perspective, 2) Understanding impact of Upstream Decisions, 3) Balancing Engineering and Politics, 4) Aligning Stakeholders, 5) Identifying gaps in Communication and Knowledge Management, 6) Understanding that workarounds may result in Technical Debt, 7) Understanding the Defense Culture, The thesis concludes with discussions on the seven insights as well as possible areas for future research. The author hopes that insights from this thesis will be used to develop guidance and advice for SoS engineering in future. / by Ying Hann Ang. / S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2012. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-73). / This thesis asks if and how the defense contractor can profitably transfer the technology and institutional learning obtained from DoD funded R&D to commercial markets. There are numerous examples of very successful defense conversion in U.S. history, such as the computer and internet. This phenomenon however, is not commonplace and the original developer of the military applied technology did not often profit from its commercialization. Faced with multiple disadvantages associated with having adapted to doing business with the DoD, this thesis hypothesizes that the one possible advantage that the DoD contractor has in competing in the commercial markets is access to advanced technological knowledge and personnel that have benefited from the learning associated from performing state of the art R&D for the DoD. This degree of advanced technology learning is not as accessible to the commercial firm because business pressures do not allow the degree of funding for cutting edge technology and less directly applicable research. This thesis examines the barriers for the DoD contractor attempting to move into the commercial market and examines cases studies of successful conversions and the recommendations from applicable prescriptive literature. / by Carina Ting. / S.M.in Engineering and Management

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2015. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Page 66 blank. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 63-66). / There is a common misconception that equates management to leadership. There is also a common school of thought that believes in order to lead one has to traverse the corporate ladder from individual contributor to the people manager side. There is also the common thought that an exceptional individual contributor will always make a good leader and/or manager. Misunderstandings along these schools of thought tend to lead to traversal of the corporate ladder either too soon, or incorrectly selecting a path which ultimately can lead to failure in the role. We will expand on these schools of thought and provide a better understanding to inform these decisions moving forward. / by Jaime Santiago V. Louis. / S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2014. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 73-75). / In the telecommunications industry, the market is highly global as well as competitive in this era of Internet and data communications. Telecommunications carriers compete with not only other telecommunications carriers providing broadband access and mobile communication but also network application and service providers, which are significant threats for telecommunications carriers. It is difficult for telecommunications carriers to control the market for two significant reasons. Firstly, due to the maturity of technology as well as customers, network services have become commoditized. Secondly, telecommunications network services are vulnerable to over-the-top services based on the Internet. This study aims to investigate how large telecommunications carriers can continue to be competitive in such an environment. This paper focuses on three kinds of strategic options that enable large high-tech companies to continue to make profits; internal R&D, growth and diversification, and M&A. In the second chapter the author focuses on IBM and Cisco, which are good examples of how large companies have evolved over time, combining these three strategies. Then, the use of the three strategies by major telecommunications carriers is investigated. Finally, in the fourth chapter, the author analyzes the future competitiveness of the NTT Group, the major telecommunications carrier in Japan, using these strategies within the next decade. / by Shingo Kawai. / S.M. in Engineering and Management