Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2000. / Also available online at the DSpace at MIT website. / "June 2000." / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-78). / The history of some U.S. service industries includes a period of rapid consolidation through the acquisition of many firms by one or a few competitors. This is often referred to as a "roll-up", with the designation used both as a verb in referring to the process and as a noun in referring to the company doing the acquiring. Roll-ups have become a well-known phenomenon since at least 1971, when Waste Management Corporation commenced an aggressive roll-up of the North American solid waste industry. In this paper, we look at the roll-up phenomenon closely and identify some of the patterns that characterize the process. We examine the history of three U.S. service industries -- solid waste, funeral homes, and landscape maintenance -each of which has experienced (or is experiencing) rapid consolidation through the roll-up process. In our investigation, we identify common characteristics as well as key differences among the three, and investigate the background of the industry, the market forces that appeared to be driving the industry dynamics at the time the consolidation efforts began, the pattern and processes of consolidation, and the results of the consolidation effort. In doing so, we identify potential industry characteristics and elements of the roll-up process that may have been contributing factors in determining the outcomes. The analysis employs several concepts and frameworks from the corporate strategy literature. Chief among these is Porter's five forces model of industry structure (Porter 1980). Additional concepts used to compare and contrast the three industries and the consolidation of each include minimum efficient scale, economies and diseconomies of scale, and inspection and integration issues related to merger activity (Oster 1999). / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-62). / A strategy is presented to rapidly advance a developing nation utilizing the power of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). A banking institution is chosen to be the anchor tenant to spread ICT. A radical approach of re-engineering using leading technologies is applied to transform the new bank to make it competitive for the new agenda. Development of a robust fiber optical network is proposed to facilitate connectivity of the branches for subsequent massive extension of broadband access through out the country. The strategic vision is to create a viral effect of ICT in the semi-rural and rural areas through use of innovative business models in order to achieve spurt in economic growth and pursue long term development. / by Abdullah Hasan. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-191). / Engineering companies frequently face product development challenges. Competitive pressures, industrial or societal innovations, and government regulations are some of the many factors that drive the need for new or better products. Companies respond to these drivers and changing needs by developing new products and employing product development processes (PDPs) to coherently manage the risks inherent in their development. Well-designed PDPs reduce development time, create better products, generate profit, and increase market share. In contrast, poorly-designed PDPs can severely harm both product lines and the companies that manufacture them. Many companies seek guidance in making important PDP design decisions. This thesis introduces PDPs as risk management frameworks. The research investigates the relationship between PDPs and risk management and seeks to help companies improve PDP design. It begins by discussing the drivers and risks of product development and then describes different PDPs. The traditional stage gate process is compared with the modified waterfall process, evolutionary prototyping, evolutionary delivery, design to schedule/budget process, the spiral process, and several other PDP variations. The research then proposes several iteration- and review-based metrics by which PDPs can be more effectively identified and compared. Ten company case studies exemplify a wide variety of actual PDPs, demonstrate the utility of iteration and review metrics in distinguishing PDPs, and illustrate how different processes manage different risks. Case study findings indicate that software development companies face rapidly-changing markets, generally perform quick integrations and tests, and are likely to employ flexible PDPs. / (cont.) In contrast, manufacturing companies that face greater integration difficulties and technical risks are likely to employ more rigid PDPs. Integration and risk are both instrumental in determining the applicability of different PDPs. The research employs case study lessons to propose a method for improved PDP design based on risk and integration. To demonstrate the method, it is applied to one company. The thesis concludes that PDPs vary more than previously documented; that the proposed metrics are useful in distinguishing PDPs, their different integrations, and their different risk management methods; and that companies facing different risks can more thoughtfully tailor their PDP designs to suit their own unique circumstances. / by Darian W. Unger. / Ph.D.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-123). / The telecommunications industry faces growing competition from deregulated markets and rapid technology change, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for companies to invest in an ever-widening range of technology segments such as equipment, networks, and application services. Every player needs an efficient strategy for achieving C()St effectiveness of processes and quick commercialization of innovations. In order to identify solution to these problems, this thesis focuses on technology strategies in data networking industry acquisitions. This thesis follows the acquisition efforts in recent years of two technology industry giants: Cisco Systems and Lucent Technologies. It probes the companies' motivations and rationale behind their acquisitions, the impact upon the firms' portfolio of technological competencies, and potential and actual penetration of new markets and access to new technologies as a result of the acquisitions. In addition, organizational issues posed by technology management and other subsequent effects on their core competencies are discussed. Comparative analyses of these companies led to key considerations of success/failure factors in acquisition and development (A&D) activities related to firm selection, integration, and evaluation processes. Effective formulas for A&D are summarized as they relate to critical strategic assets such as market, product, technology, value chain, IT, location, organization, people, culture, and vision. As a result of this study, the thesis produces guidelines for the technology strategy of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT). The Japanese telecom industry is currently exposed to more severe competition than ever before due to the partial breakup of NTT in July 1999. The guidelines focus on the importance of recognizing both the A&D execution model and the feasibility of the recommended formulas and execution of consistent technology strategies based on past internal/external know-how and experiences. / by Kazuhiko Ohkubo. / 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 103-105). / Recently Japanese oil companies have been struggling to provide customers with differentiated services and satisfaction, and to capture their perception. They tried changing the relationship with dealers over multiple distribution channels in order to solve this issue. Through trials and errors the oil companies managed to have dealers under their control by vertical integration, but the vertical integration did not result in positive impact for either the oil companies or the dealers since lack of communication brought about conflict between them regarding marketing approach. By learning from practice oil companies have been changing their channel control policy from vertical integration to partnerships that enable the oil companies and their dealers to create more intimate and consequently cooperative relationships. Furthermore, their challenge to channel management has resulted in developing new distribution channels by building partnerships with unrelated industries. This thesis focuses on the dynamics of two partnership models in the distribution channel, vertical partnerships, a new type of relationship between suppliers and their dealers, and horizontal partnerships that are strategic distribution alliances with unrelated industries. First, the driving forces of these partnerships are presented and from that hypotheses are built that determine successful relationships with partners and positive impact for customers. Following that is research and analysis of partnership cases from Japanese oil companies that verify these hypotheses. Further, key factors are extracted from the cases and their validity is checked by adapting each hypothesis. Finally, key factors are prioritized by using an attribution map and the conclusion is a successful methodology for vertical and horizontal partnerships specific to Japanese oil companies. / by Hirotaka Yamanami. / 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 (leaf 69). / Products and services are two ways firms delivery value to customers. In some situations firms augment physical products with services related to that product. In other situations the service offered to customers is the primary offering and it is enabled by a product. This paper investigates enterprise resource planning (ERP) software tracking its evolution from predominantly a product with associated services to an offering as a service enabled by the software product. Frameworks have been developed to analyze service offerings. Two such frameworks capture causal relationships to customer value and customer satisfaction. This paper analyzes these frameworks and applies one of them to SAP R/3 ERP software as the offering evolved towards a more pure service offering (product-based). The paper then analyzes the sufficiency and appropriateness of one framework, the service profit chain, to the current offering of the SAP R/3 ERP application service provider (ASP) product, MySAP.com. Several additions are suggested to enhance the service profit chain model. / by Atsuhito Momma. / 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 (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.