Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 154-163). / Motivation -- Industrial firms survive, sustain and co-evolve by participating in the sector of innovation and production through industrial transactions with each other. However, it is difficult for specialized firms to be aware of and manage accordingly the kind of systemic constraints and opportunities induced by relevant but indirect transactions, as well as the technological and economic requirements of their value chains, which they cannot control or even sufficiently observe. The myopia may cause specialized firms to implement incorrect strategies, leave them vulnerable to system failures or ignorant of emerging opportunities. This implies a paradox: the simultaneous needs to specialize and to understand and manage the big picture of the eco-system. Goal -- Previous industry studies have focused on the question if a transaction with an external firm is needed rather than in-house production, and on empirical work from single industries or bilateral relationships between firms. Meanwhile, the firms' positions in the sectoral transactional network are also influential to the success and performance of firms. In this dissertation, I conduct transactional network analysis to explore how firms are organized in the sector of aggregated industries, in order to shed light on the set of previously ignored knowledge on industrial transactions, which is valuable to single firms in designing strategies and managing operations but is not available from firm- and industry-level analysis. Hierarchy in Industry Architecture -- At the sector level, existing theories often assumed hierarchical or non-hierarchical relationships among industrial firms, and quantitative evidence on variable degrees of hierarchy in industry sectors is lacking. This dissertation first identifies and defines the type of hierarchy relevant to industry studies -flow hierarchy, develops a network-based metric on the degree of hierarchy (one-way flow of transactions), and applies it to the transaction data from two industrial sectors in Japan. The empirical results show that the electronics sector exhibits a significantly lower degree of hierarchy than the automotive sector due to the presence of many transaction cycles. It shows that the simplistic hierarchy hypothesis for production sectors does not always hold. Industrial Network Model and Transaction Specificity -- I further create a network simulation model with random networks to relate sector-level hierarchy degrees to firm-level behavioral variables, and infer transaction specificity, i.e. the extent to which a firm is captive to a niche of customers positioned closely in the industrial network hierarchy. The model builds on three basic rules on market structures, i.e. hierarchy, niche, and the mapping relationship between roles and positions. Transaction specificity provides a way to quantify the tendency of a firm to fix or institutionalize its role according to its relative network position, or where the transactions of a firm are oriented in the value chains, whereas traditional studies analyze whether a transaction versus in-house production is needed. The result shows that transaction specificity in the electronics sector is quantitatively much lower than that in the automotive sector. Interviews and Firm Boundary Strategies -- I further conducted interviews with nine firms in the two sectors and found that, with decision rationales related to product modularity, innovation dynamics and asset specificity, the major electronics firms take the permeable vertical boundary strategy and diversified horizontal boundary strategy, which decrease transaction specificity so that many transaction cycles emerge in the electronics sector. My analysis shows the permeability of a firm's vertical boundary, i.e. playing multiple value chain roles, is the necessary condition for transaction cycles to emerge. Meanwhile, these two strategies are not feasible in the automotive sector according to interviews. They are also not observed in the American electronics sector. My data show the American electronics firms tend to be vertically specialized in the value chains. Social-Technical Arguments -- Linking network analysis results, interview data, and the prior work on the physical limits to product modularity, I argue that higher power level of a sector's technologies leads to higher transaction specificity, and more hierarchical transaction lows across the sector. High power technologies constrain strategic transaction choices, while lower power technologies enable a larger option space of transaction strategies, for companies to explore and exploit. Implications -- For academics, the use of network analysis permits transaction cost analysis, or more general analysis of transaction-related decisions, to be extended from the boundary of a firm to the architecture of a sector comprising related industries. It gives us a bird's-eye view to observe firm-level transaction behaviors and create new knowledge on transaction specificity. In addition, the analysis of the physical properties of product technologies allows us to interpret the difference in transaction specificities and hierarchy degrees of different sectors, which economic and sociology theories cannot explain. For industry practitioners, this research suggests that firms' choices for industrial transactions are under some predictable constraints from product technologies. A better understanding of the linkages between industry architecture, firm transaction strategy, and product technology, in turn can guide companies to tailor transaction strategies to implicit technological constraints and to adequately explore strategic options made feasible by technologies. / by Jianxi Luo. / Ph.D.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2012. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-71). / Software product management within Software as a Service is key domain of interest given the recent advances in Cloud Computing. This thesis explores the product management challenges within this domain. It makes a contribution to understanding how factors such as architecture, customer experience measurement, customer driven feature prioritization, editorial action of product manager and development process affect product success in the SaaS domain. SaaS product management dictates different priorities from traditional software and product managers and organizations must adapt to these changes to innovate. / by Karthikeyan Rajasekharan. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2013. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-122). / As the number of vehicles in China has relentlessly grown in the past decade, the energy demand, fuel demand and greenhouse gas emissions associated with these vehicles have kept pace. This thesis presents a model to project future energy demand, fuel demand and carbon dioxide emissions for the Chinese light duty vehicle fleet. Results indicate that China can offset rapid vehicle energy demand growth with reductions in fuel consumption and new vehicle technologies. These reference scenario results indicate that future light duty vehicle energy demand and carbon dioxide emissions will peak below 400 mtoe and 1700 mmt carbon dioxide, respectively. In addition, a scenario based sensitivity analysis reveals that vehicle stock, vehicle fuel consumption and vehicle fleet electrification are the most significant drivers in determining future light duty vehicle energy demand, fuel demand and carbon dioxide emissions. The Chinese government is concerned with these trends. In a complementary analysis, I investigate existing government policy strategies that may affect future automotive energy demand. I find that policy strategies are fairly well aligned with the significant drivers to reduce automotive energy demand. However, I also find that national government policies are often not implemented as intended at the local government level. Finally, I analyze current domestic and joint venture brand vehicle technology, where I find that domestic car technology lags joint venture car technology. / by Ingrid Gudrun Bonde Åkerlind. / S.M.in Technology and Policy

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 216-230). / Large engineering projects design, engineer and construct much of the world's energy, transportation and defense infrastructure. These large scale engineering endeavors are highly visible, have long lasting impacts and are of major economic significance. Yet despite their importance they frequently suffer from cost overruns and long delays and deliver systems with operational shortcomings. A contributing factor to the challenge of large projects is that the project enterprise is created by separate firms being brought together by the project sponsor, typically via formal contracts. Success requires multiple firms with hundreds (possibly thousands) of engineers working together to efficiently create complex product systems within an environment of high uncertainty. In an attempt to improve project outcomes, sponsors often endeavor to create "alignment" between themselves and their key contractors. In practice, alignment has proved difficult to create and to sustain. This research explores the policies and actions taken by firms that give rise to alignment. The large engineering projects studied for this research were offshore oil and gas field developments. grounded theory method, supplemented by formal dynamic model building, was used to investigate the causal mechanisms that support, or inhibit, the generation of alignment. The research revealed that alignment is founded on the collective understanding of the project, incorporating the firm's separate interests, and inter-firm trust. Furthermore the two antecedents of alignment act together to form a self-enforcing alignment mechanism. Six factors (system architecture, organizational design, contract design, risk, metrics and incentives) were identified that establish the inter-firm interactions through which collective understanding and inter-firm trust are created. These findings are organized into a framework that guides policy selection with a view to enabling the generation, and sustainment, of alignment. / (cont.) A grounded theory method, supplemented by formal dynamic model building, was used to investigate the causal mechanisms that support, or inhibit, the generation of alignment. The research revealed that alignment is founded on the collective understanding of the project, incorporating the firm's separate interests, and inter-firm trust. Furthermore the two antecedents of alignment act together to form a self-enforcing alignment mechanism. Six factors (system architecture, organizational design, contract design, risk, metrics and incentives) were identified that establish the inter-firm interactions through which collective understanding and inter-firm trust are created. These findings are organized into a framework that guides policy selection with a view to enabling the generation, and sustainment, of alignment. / by Nicholas McKenna. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-96). / This thesis is a part of the Supply Chain 2020 research project which seeks to study best practices in supply chain management in multiple industries in order to develop a deeper understanding of key principles and practices characterizing the creation of excellent supply chains through a long-term research agenda. This thesis addresses the first phase of the research by concentrating on the aerospace industry and by focusing on Rolls-Royce through a case study. The objective of the thesis is to conduct an exploratory study of the best practices in supply chain management in the aircraft engine manufacturing industry, and how these practices impact the competitive positioning of an engine manufacturer within the industry. The analysis involves a broad review of the current state and future directions of the aerospace industry by tracing the key factors shaping its evolution and by identifying the major strategic forces that would influence its future. Within this general industry context, the thesis analyzes Rolls-Royce's position in the industry as a leading aircraft engine manufacturer and presents a focused study of Rolls-Royce's supply chain management practices. / (cont.) In particular, the thesis involves a deeper exploration of the aircraft engine manufacturing business segment of Rolls-Royce and strives to understand the company's supply chain management practices, by examining the role of major factors that have proven crucial to effective supply chain management within the company. The thesis also presents more specific case study examples that track the implementation and results of major supply chain management initiatives. Finally, the supply chain design and management practices are analyzed from the perspective of their role in the company's business strategy. This is accomplished by employing a number of business strategy frameworks to understand the key factors that determine the competitiveness of a tier one supplier in the aerospace industry, such as Rolls- Royce, and by examining how those factors have affected Rolls-Royce's supply chain management strategies and practices. / by Mohit Tiwari. / M.Eng.in Logistics

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2013. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-232). / Systems Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) is a powerful new hazard analysis method designed to go beyond traditional safety techniques-such as Fault Tree Analysis (FTA)-that overlook important causes of accidents like flawed requirements, dysfunctional component interactions, and software errors. Although traditional techniques have been effective at analyzing and reducing accidents caused by component failures, modem complex systems have introduced new problems that can be much more difficult to anticipate, analyze, and prevent. In addition, a new class of accidents, component interaction accidents, has become increasingly prevalent in today's complex systems and can occur even when systems operate exactly as designed and without any component failures. While STPA has proven to be effective at addressing these problems, its application thus far has been ad-hoc with no rigorous procedures or model-based design tools to guide the analysis. In addition, although no formal structure has yet been defined for STPA, the process is based on a control-theoretic framework that could be formalized and adapted to facilitate development of automated methods that assist in analyzing complex systems. This dissertation defines a formal mathematical structure underlying STPA and introduces a procedure for systematically performing an STPA analysis based on that structure. A method for using the results of the hazard analysis to generate formal safety-critical, model-based system and software requirements is also presented. Techniques to automate both the STPA analysis and the requirements generation are introduced, as well as a method to detect conflicts between safety requirements and other functional model-based requirements during early development of the system. / by John P. Thomas IV. / Ph.D.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-94). / The purpose of this research is to discuss employment in the United States (US) service sector. The main concern is not pinpointing numerical estimates, but instead identifying trends which lead to job growth or job loss. Like manufacturing jobs that have been lost to offshore locations or productivity gains, so too are service jobs at risk. Offshoring - the outsourcing of business functions overseas - and automation have the same effect of displacing workers. What keeps a service job in the US and what makes it ideal to ship overseas or replace with a computer? Consumers have several choices between different product and service offerings. And, different products need varied levels of aftermarket service. What makes customers go out and spend money rather than completing tasks themselves? This thesis attacks these questions by outlining characteristics of products, services, and consumers which could help label jobs as "safe" or "at-risk." First is a discussion of these characteristics. Then, the range of product and service alternatives that consumers have to choose from is presented and applied to examples. / (cont.) Overall, jobs which may be at-risk are those occupations that can be offshored, automated, or easily performed by consumers themselves. On the other hand, jobs that may prove safer are those with high barriers to self-service, those that offer a customized service or experience, and those that require physical contact to be performed. / by Eric D. Gorney. / S.M.

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2011. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-79). / This thesis involves railcar fleet sizing strategies with a specific company in the chemical industry. We note that the identity of the company in this report has been disguised, and some portions of the fleets have been omitted to mask their actual sizes. However, all analysis in this thesis was conducted on actual data. In our research, we evaluate the appropriateness of both deterministic and stochastic fleet sizing models for this company. In addition, we propose an economic model that is adapted from a basic inventory management policy that can be applied to fleet sizing in order to arrive at a cost-driven solution. Through our research, we demonstrate that the fleet sizing strategy of this company can be improved by incorporating transit time variability into the fleet sizing model. Additionally, we show that fleet sizes can be reduced by accurately characterizing the distributions of the underlying transit and customer holding time data. Finally, we show the potential value of considering economic factors to arrive at a fleet sizing decision that balances the cost of over-capacity with the cost of an insufficient supply of railcars. / by Jay Jagatheesan and Ryan Kilcullen. / M.Eng.in Logistics

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-80). / This thesis examines the supply chain management practices of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Company within the context of the global aerospace industry. The methodology used for this study includes a study of emerging supply chain management concepts and practices in the aerospace industry based on a review of the open literature, research performed on aerospace supply chain management issues by MIT's Lean Aerospace Initiative, and selected interviews with aerospace industry experts. The results show that there are significant changes in supply chain management practices in the aerospace industry. These changes include restructuring and closer integration of supplier networks to achieve efficiency gains, delegating greater design and production responsibility to major suppliers through strategic supplier partnerships along with having key suppliers evolve greater system and subsystem integration capabilities, emphasizing a lifecycle view supply chain design and management to reduce lifecycle cost of products and systems, and building supply chain capabilities supporting maintenance and aftermarket logistics services as a major new strategic thrust to provide improved customer satisfaction and retain long-term customer loyalty. The thesis focuses on Boeing's supply chain management practices through a case study to explore these developments in a more concrete enterprise context. / by Daglar Cizmeci. / M.Eng.in Logistics

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2015. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-227). / The combination of air traffic growth and airport capacity limitations has resulted in significant congestion throughout the US National Airspace System, which imposes large costs on the airlines, passengers and society. Absent opportunities for capacity expansion, the mitigation of air traffic congestion requires improvements in (i) the utilization of airport capacity to enhance operating efficiency at the tactical level (i.e., over each day of operations), and/or (ii) the allocation of airport capacity to the airlines to limit over-capacity scheduling at the strategic level (i.e., months in advance of the day of operations). This thesis develops an integrated approach to airport congestion mitigation that jointly optimizes the utilization of airport capacity and the design of airport capacity allocation mechanisms. First, we focus on airport capacity utilization. We formulate an original Dynamic Programming model that optimizes, at the tactical level, the selection of runway configurations and the balancing of arrival and departure service rates to minimize congestion costs, for any given schedule of flights. The model integrates the stochasticity of airport operations into a dynamic decision-making framework. We implement exact and approximate Dynamic Programming algorithms that, in combination, enable the real-time implementation of the model. Results show that optimal policies are path-dependent, i.e., depend on prior decisions and on the stochastic evolution of the system, and that the model can reduce congestion costs, compared to advanced heuristics aimed to replicate typical decisions made in practice and to existing approaches based on deterministic queue dynamics. Second, we integrate the model of airport capacity utilization into a macroscopic queuing model of airport congestion. The resulting model quantifies the relationships between flight schedules, airport capacity and flight delays at the strategic level, while accounting for the way airport capacity utilization procedures can vary tactically to maximize operating efficiency. Results suggest that the model estimates the average departure queue lengths, the variability of departure queue lengths and the average arrival and departure delays at the three major airports in the New York Metroplex relatively well. The application of the model shows that the strong nonlinearities between flight schedules and flight delays observed in practice are captured by the model. Third, we develop an Integrated Capacity Utilization and Scheduling Model (ICUSM) that jointly optimizes scheduling interventions for airport capacity allocation at the strategic level and airport capacity utilization at the tactical level. Scheduling interventions start with a schedule of flights provided by the airlines, and reschedule a selected set of flights to reduce imbalances between demand and capacity, while minimizing interference with airline competitive scheduling. The ICUSM optimizes such interventions, while accounting for the impact of changes in flight schedules on airport operations. It relies on an original modeling architecture that integrates a Stochastic Queuing Model of airport congestion, our Dynamic Programming model of capacity utilization, and an Integer Programming model of scheduling interventions. We develop an iterative solution algorithm that converges in reasonable computational times. Results suggest that substantial delay reductions can be achieved at busy airports through limited changes in airline schedules. It is also shown that the proposed integrated approach to airport congestion mitigation performs significantly better than a typical sequential approach where scheduling and operating decisions are made separately. Last, we build upon the ICUSM to design, optimize and assess non-monetary mechanisms for scheduling interventions that ensure inter-airline equity and enable airline collaboration. Under the proposed mechanism, the airlines would provide their preferred schedules of flights, their network connections, and the relative scheduling flexibility of their flights to a central decision-maker, who may then consider scheduling adjustments to reduce anticipated delays. We develop a lexicographic architecture that optimizes such interventions based on efficiency (i.e., meeting airline scheduling preferences), equity (i.e., balancing scheduling adjustments fairly among the airlines), and on-time performance (i.e., mitigating airport congestion) objectives. Theoretical and computational results suggest that inter-airline equity can be achieved at no, or small, losses in efficiency, and that accounting for airline scheduling preferences can significantly improve the outcome of scheduling interventions. / by Alexandre Jacquillat. / Ph. D.