Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 108). / This document is an exploration into the past, present, and emerging future of MIT from the perspective of a participant-in and observer-of Institute life and learning, and seeks to better understand how creative inquiry at the Institute leads to real-world impact. We explore the Institute's history, mission, and creative ethos. We survey MIT's links to industry, highlight the inner-connections between the triad of research, education and extracurriculars, and explore the rich entrepreneurial ecosystem, how the Institute formally and informally educates and inspires new generations of founders, builders, and leaders. We conclude by observing how distributed initiative, inquiry, and leadership enable organizational reinvention and survey a few of MIT's emergent future frontiers. / by Joost Paul Bonsen. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-86). / International standardization has been playing an important role in telecommunications industries. The primary benefits of the large committee standardization are interoperability and scales of economy. However, mainly due to the emergence of the Internet, time-consuming procedures to forge a consensus have become a critical drawback of the international standardization organizations. Currently, many forum standards and even proprietary standards have became dominant in multimedia communications industries. In this thesis, characteristics of standards are analyzed in four categories: international standards, regional standards, forum standards and proprietary standards. The infrastructure layer inter connectivities issues are suitable for discussion in large committee, while the technologies related to the Internet, application layer and software are appropriate for smaller consortia. It is illustrated that there is a production possibility frontier (PPF) in the dimensions of the level of consensus versus speed of the standardization. There have been many attempts to expand the horizon of the PPF by existing standardization organizations. A case of the standardization on third generation mobile communications system in the ITU describes the dynamics to achieve international consensus within a limited time period. The proposed analysis framework is also helpful as a guideline for understanding future standardization strategies on mobile multimedia communications. / by Tomoyuki Oya. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2000. / Also available online at the MIT Theses Online homepage <http://thesis.mit.edu>. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-65). / Globalization has become one of the most important strategic issues for almost every business organization. Along with globalization, managers and employees are being required to work with people in geographically dispersed locations as well as in local organizations. For a new project, a global company typically creates a group with professionals located in multiple places. The basic principles for managing a co-located group are important and can be applied to managing a group of people in geographically dispersed locations, referred to as a "globally dispersed team". However, global dispersion involves additional complexities, such as cross-cultural and cross-organizational issues. Managing globally dispersed teams is a new challenge for managers and employees, especially those who are appointed as leaders of such teams. Through a review of the literature and existing management publications, as well as actual case studies of globally dispersed teams, this thesis explores the key issues and develops proposals for managers who must deal with managing these globally dispersed teams. / by Hiroyuki Suzuki. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2000. / Also available online at the MIT Theses Online homepage <http://thesis.mit.edu>. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-113). / The Internet has created a revolution in business. It is allowing companies to connect like they have never been able to previously. Traditional companies are having to radically transform themselves as new business models become possible. These same companies are falling over themselves to cash in on the stratospheric corporate valuations brought on by the new economy, and at the same time are in a desperate battle with the same new economy companies to keep their customers, margins, and market share. However, the first shots of another revolution are being fired. Within five years, these same companies will be repeating their acts of desperation as the Web goes wireless. Today, mobile phones have become ubiquitous tools for many businesses allowing employees, customers, and suppliers to stay better connected. However, wireless voice is only the beginning. As wireless data transmission becomes possible, the Internet turns mobile, and entirely new disruptions in the business world will be created. Where the Internet changed how business was conducted, the wireless Web will change where business is conducted, and just as the Internet has become strategically important to almost every company today, so will the wireless Web be just as important to companies tomorrow. Complicating the matter, the mobile telecommunications industry is in a dramatic state of flux. Not only are handset manufacturers seeing exponential growth in mobile voice communications, but are also now beginning to grapple with the issues of data delivery over mobile devices. These next generation mobile devices will not only have to deliver voice services, but will also have to deliver data services such as email, e-commerce, and other Internet applications. This paper will address the strategic issues being faced by three mobile device manufacturers: Ericsson, Nokia, and Siemens. Furthermore, we will examine the effects the convergence of handheld and wireless devices, the multitude of standards, and the consolidation of industry players will have on an already competitive and complicated industry. / by Andreas von Meyer zu Knonow and Mann A. Shoffner. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2000. / Also available online at the MIT Theses Online homepage <http://thesis.mit.edu>. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-112). / Research was done on several public sources to identify the 828 practices of two players in the computer hardware industry. As key players in a technology intensive industry, such as computer hardware, yet coming from different starting points, IBM as an incumbent and Dell as an attacker should provide insights in key success factors in e-commerce and their application to a more general group of players in other industries. A framework for analyzing the specifics of the 828 strategy for these two companies was developed. This framework was an adaptation and evolution of the Value Chain and the Integrated Value Chain concepts. This framework provides a better understanding of the relationship between the 828 strategy and the overall strategy of the company. From the results achieved by these companies' 828 practices, several conclusions and recommendations were drawn for IBM and Dell. Specific recommendations on the key issues brought about by the Internet in areas such as channel restructuring, customer relationship management and trends towards providing full customer solutions are provided. This work also shows how specialization and partnerships will play an increasingly important role for computer hardware vendors, as clients look for integrated solutions and one stop buying for products and services. An assessment of the future challenges brought about by new marketplaces such as e-marketplaces, specifically 828 exchanges, shows how companies need to be prepared to embrace e-business rather than e-commerce in order to survive. Other new challenges are analyzed, particularly those related to the commoditization of the computer hardware industry, the birth of PC substitutes, such as wireless appliances, and the use of the Web as the software holder. Finally, a partnership or strategic alliance between these two companies is discussed as a plausible strategy to leverage on their distinct core strengths: Dell's capability to effectively manage outsourcing and the direct channel, and IBM's skills on building in-house capabilities for creating new service lines and developing world class software. / by Adriana Maria Noreňa [sic]. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-65). / Innovation and rapid fielding ("commercialization") of superior technology has been a key element in the United States military's strategy throughout its history. Maintaining this edge in the current environment of increased rate of technological change but dramatically reduced military procurement budgets will require strategically developing the most cost effective systems and optimizing the productivity of new product development teams. An emerging framework for a "metrics thermostat" based on an agency theory model for selecting and prioritizing metrics for product development teams has shown promising results in two commercial applications. This study focused on applying this framework to one of the government's largest procurement organizations, the Naval Sea Systems Command (NA VSEA), the Navy Department's central activity for designing, engineering, integrating, building and procuring U.S. naval ships and shipboard weapons and combat systems. A working metrics hierarchy and construct was developed. Desired outcomes or profit analogies were defined to value and differentiate strategic priorities, enabling metrics and covariates. Five strategic priorities aligned with NA VSEA' s stated goals were selected for the study and enabling metrics and covariates directly impacting these strategic priorities and desired outcomes were defined. Approximately 50 product/systems were identified and investigated to varying degrees. Significant progress was made toward populating the defined data fields for the selected data points/systems. Preliminary analyses offer hope that the combination of a large data set and broad, robust metrics will reveal meaningful correlations and leverages. The data sources have been largely been identified but substantial data collection remains to be done. As this is completed, comprehensive regression analyses will be performed to determine the relative effectiveness of the strategic priorities and enabling metrics. These results, and corresponding directions to program mangers on which strategies and metrics to emphasize and which to de-emphasize, will be validated by NA VSEA experts. / by Carl B. Frank. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 48-51). / The topic of this thesis is focused around the new possibilities in the field of market research opened with the advent of the internet, in particular around the use of web interfaces to perform conjoint analysis, a market research technique based on comparisons between pairs of potential product configurations to compute the perceived relative utility of each of several product design attributes. We first overview conjoint analysis and the online market research industry in general, so see how the use of the internet for this purpose can reduce the cost of these analyses in more than an order of magnitude due to a better accessibility to test customers, a cleaner and faster interface, and the possibility of reducing the number of questions necessary to compute the utility functions using an adaptive technique that generates optimal questions with dynamic web content as the test proceeds. We then study the issues related with the automation of web sites for performing this type of analyses without having to redesign the interface, with the introduction of dynamic content web technology for adaptive conjoint analysis, and with the possibilities offered by this technique towards fast segmentation of incoming customers. Finally, we report the first implementation - to the best of our knowledge - of an actual web architecture that uses a novel adaptive conjoint algorithm and automates the whole analysis setup process. / by Julio M. Faura. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-109). / "When you write a book, you need to have more than an interesting story. You need to have a desire to tell the story. You need to be personally invested in some way. You need to care about it." Malcolm Gladwell Author, "The Tipping Point". "I have never thought of writing for reputation and honor. What I have in my heart must come out, that is the reason why I compose. " Ludwig van Beethoven. The above quotes answer the basic question that many people have asked me (and I have asked myself): Why are you writing a thesis? The answer is simple: I believe there's a story to be told, and I have a personal passion for the subject. This thesis will analyze the patterns and practices of contemporary software startups. Though much has been written about software companies and much has been written on startups, I'm primarily interested in the intersection: software startups. More specifically, I will explore contemporary software startups that were started after the Internet bubble burst. About The Website: onstartups.com / As part of the thesis writing experience, I started a blog called "OnStartups" (http://onstartups.com) where I have been posting articles on software startups. More information on the onstartups.com site is included at the end of the thesis. My passion for learning more about software startups, the opportunity to work with two exceptional individuals as co-advisors and the overwhelming response to my onstartups.com website are my primary motivations for this thesis. Onward! / by Dharmesh Shah. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2000. / Also available online at the MIT Theses Online homepage <http://thesis.mit.edu>. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-63). / Alliances have been increasingly used in many industries as a way of obtaining competitive advantage. The enterprise storage marketplace is one in which alliances have been frequently used by many big players. In this paper, a comprehensive list of storage related alliances was compiled. The list covers a five-year period from 1995 to 1999, and the six leading domestic enterprise storage manufacturers including EMC, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Sun Microsystems, Dell, and Compaq. Six forces that have led to the alliances in the enterprise storage space were identified. The alliances were broken down into three levels . based on the strategic importance of an alliance and the amount of effort involved. With the data obtained from press and company news releases, we were able to categorize the alliances with regard to the six forces. However we were not able to determine the level of each alliance due to the Jack of inside information regarding the true goals and processes of the alliances. Nevertheless we believe the evaluation methodology is worth presenting and the work can be completed once the information becomes available. A comparative analysis of the storage-related alliances for each of the six leading storage vendors was conducted. The analysis touched upon the firms' product positioning, competitive advantage/disadvantage, and the use of alliances. The thesis also discusses if and how the alliances were linked to business strategy. / by Jennifer Xiaoying Zhu. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2000. / Also available online at the MIT Theses Online homepage <http://thesis.mit.edu>. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-101). / The technology platform in the research and development of pharmaceutical drugs is changing dramatically -- from the traditional trial-and-error method to modem sophisticated methods that use Combinatorial Chemistry (CC), High Throughput Screening (HTS), and Gene Technology. Since the beginning of the 1990s, pharmaceutical companies have actively invested into such technologies. Some investment has been in-house, but many companies have acquired high-tech ventures or formed strategic alliances. Today it is necessary for every firm to make the best use of all these technologies in order to improve their R&D productivity. However, it is expensive to use all of them. Over the past five years, many leading global companies have begun to merge. There are various reasons for merging, but the most common is to enhance R&D activity and marketing by reducing redundancy and reinvesting the savings. These attitudes indicate that the critical mass of the industry will increase rapidly. Similar technological change is occurring in Japan. In addition, other changes in the Japanese pharmaceutical industry are also having a significant effect, such as the national health insurance system and the R&D regulatory environment. However, compared to the magnitude of radical change among global companies, much less has occurred in the Japanese industry. That is, fewer mergers have occurred between leading Japanese pharmaceutical companies. Instead, Japanese companies seem to be mired in a dilemma in a rapidly changing environment. To break through this situation, Japanese pharmaceutical companies must consider making some deals. I analyzed the R&D strategies of five pharmaceutical companies, to learn how they acquire genetic technology strategy, and I found some interesting points. The research found that increasing the critical mass of the industry through M&As and strategic alliances, coupled with excellent strategies and effective R&D management, is indispensable for the industry as a whole, specifically for medium-sized firms. Finally, I conclude with some specific recommendations for Welfide Corporation, as it seeks to solve the dilemmas and enter the global markets of the pharmaceutical industry. / by Yoshifumi Togo. / S.M.M.O.T.