Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2016. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-234). / Sustainability standards have been construed as potent solutions for agricultural producers in the Global South to solve major issues around poverty, inequality, bad labor and environmental conditions, and they have been spreading rapidly. Standards promise better livelihoods for producers through higher prices, farmer organization, and compliance with improved labor, environmental, and managerial practices. Yet actual improvements occur inconsistently. This dissertation examines this inconsistency by asking under what conditions and through what mechanisms sustainability standards improve livelihoods for producers in their labor and economic conditions. I find that producers, themselves, must make standards work and discover how to translate transnational rules into locally suitable practices. This process of discovery comprises two challenges: to upgrade by adding value to the adopting rural enterprise and to turn rules into practices. Overcoming these challenges is contingent on two conditions. First, adopters must integrate this process of discovery with a high-performance work system that mobilizes the skills and motivation of employees for productivity and quality gains. Second, adopters' learning depends on external reinforcement, positive through support for learning or negative through a threat of sanctions. The empirical material for this argument stems from a multi-method study of sustainability standards in the cocoa sector of Ghana, Ecuador, and Brazil. A five-year panel study from Ghana shows that, on average, livelihood improvements with standards are underwhelming. In Ecuador, my findings from comparing two certified farmer groups show that the path to better outcomes leads through upgrading, and not through standards by themselves. In Brazil, evidence from a participant-observation and interview-based study with cocoa plantations demonstrates that adopters must be able to proactively turn rules into on-the-ground behaviors. Theoretically, this dissertation contributes a practice and labor lens to transnational private governance research and, in doing so, theorizes relationships between adopters' practices, private standard implementation, and market and regulatory contexts. Empirically, I propose that mitigating the weaknesses of private governance cannot be solved by adding more public regulation or more governance from buyers. Instead, I recommend to support agricultural producers by complementing transnational rules with local communities of practice in order to speed up processes of upgrading and discovery. / by Maja Tampe. / Ph. D.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [126]-133). / Thesis consists of three unrelated Chapters, three Financial Economics research topics: (I) Approximate Factor Structure: Concept of approximate factor structure is equivalent to assumption of Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT). Novel estimation procedure and tests for approximate factor structure of series of sample covariance matrices with increasing order are developed from APT research. Time/crosssection double-limit asymptotics is addressed by proposed random aggregation. It is shown that resulting small-order sample covariance matrix of the portfolios is informative about approximate factor structure even for time samples size and portfolio set size growing slower than cross-section. Procedure is applied to weekly NYSE/AMEX 1988-92 stock returns panel. Empirical results are ambiguous and vary across asymptotically equivalent tests and number of aggregated portfolios. Simulations show significant bias of sample statistic from asymptotic counterparts. Bias reduction and related corrections resembling bootstrap are considered. Besides small-sample deviation from asymptotic model, weak results might result from non-existence of approximate factor structure in considered sample. Possible inconsequentiality of APT assumption for portfolio investment is discussed briefly: that approximate factor structure is not preserved under change of asset base is known but underappreciated. (II) Rebundling in Mean-Variance Portfolio Theory: Concept of "rebundling", economically irrelevant change of full set of base investment assets, is studied within context of mean/variance portfolio theory. Complete set of rebundling invariants is found, characterized, discussed; results applied to CAPM. Alternative approaches of CAPM arc also illustrated. Further, invariants for time scale and stochastic numeraire indeterminacy and their relationships are studied. Empirical research project on associated issues is proposed. (III) Trading Volume and MiniCRSP Database: Description of MiniCRSP database is provided together with first results of trading volume empirical analysis based on it. MiniCRSP is database of daily and weekly prices, returns and turnovers data derived from CRSP Stocks daily file, with superior storage, convenience, portability, and speed parameters. Analysis includes advantages of of weekly over daily data financial research. Errors in input volume data are investigated and important class of them characterized and remedied. Exploratory analysis of turnover behavior in interaction with return behavior is studied. / by Petr Adamek. / Approximate factor strucutre -- Rebundling in mean-variance portfolio theory -- Trading volume and miniCRSP database. / Ph.D.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Alfred P. Sloan School of Management. Thesis. 1971. Ph.D. / MICROFICHE COPY ALSO AVAILABLE IN DEWEY LIBRARY. / Lacking leaf 45. Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 123-127. / Ph.D.

Thesis: M.B.A., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2017. / Page 59 blank. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 46-47). / Given that Nigeria is the largest producer of crude oil and natural gas in the world, the country struggles to make liquid fuel available to over 188 million consumers in her domestic market. A review of the key challenges impacting liquid fuel supply and distribution efficiency in Nigeria was performed. Also, measures employed by successive governments were reviewed and key reasons why the problem has been persistent despite investments by governments were highlighted in the study. However, a disruptive approach - The 3 node structure model to permanently solve the problem of liquid fuel supply and distribution is proposed in this study. Using system dynamics, factors challenging the Nigerian petroleum downstream industry were stated. Current state system dynamic loops with powerful positive and negative feedback effects to the economy of the country were captured and used as the basis for policy recommendations. More so, system dynamics has been used to show the effectiveness of the proposed 3 node structure model as it offers actionable policy frameworks for the Nigerian Government as well as business case for foreign and local investors interested in pursuing an opportunity in the Nigerian petroleum refining industry. / by Onyeizu Chimaeze Chinedu. / M.B.A.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-99). / The healthcare industry like other industry is on the cross roads as a result of rising demand for healthcare delivery and service, the industry is facing declining revenues and increasing cost. As a result, one of the industry's strategic arsenal to avert the continual declines in revenue and increases operating cost is to effectively use modern technology in form of wireless computing and communications technology to change the paradigm shift to improve outcomes of clinical services, enhance physician and nurse productivity and work flow efficiency, reduce supply chain cost, improve revenue collection and practice profitability. This report presents the dynamic and strategic analysis of wireless communications technology in the healthcare industry, by first evaluating the wireless technologies, industry standards and regulations, applicable standards for the healthcare information systems and innovative healthcare technologies. / (cont.) Based on an in-depth technical analysis of the wireless technology, I analyzed the market and industry by applying frameworks including Porter's 5 forces and The Delta model and system dynamics models presented to illustrate contributing factors affecting new technology adoption in the healthcare industry and a holistic view of a healthcare IT system architecture. Lastly, I analyzed emerging wireless technologies including WiMAX, UltraWide -Band and RFID, and reviewed market opportunities in the healthcare industry through 2011. / by John K. Eyemaro. / S.M.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-82). / This thesis examines the concept of the value network and the roles of its principal actors, defined herein as (i) buyers, (ii) suppliers, and (iii) logistics providers. Our research considers the role of each actor in the context of the value network; however, we pay particular attention to the role of the logistics provider. Content for our research was gathered from literary sources and interviews with individuals in industry and academia having experience in or knowledge of supply chain management or logistics. We organized our research around multi-national companies having complex operations. This was based on our hypothesis that large companies, in their capacity as buyers, function as pull factors and dominant actors in supply chain systems. The companies that we selected operate in the aerospace, steel, and consumer products sectors. A principal purpose of our research was to critique the role of logistics providers from the perspective of their capacity to (i) connect actors across the supply chain and (ii) optimize the functionality of the resulting network or extended enterprise. In order to make such evaluations, we felt it was essential to understand the perspectives of customers, which caused us to define the principal actors of a value network and, ultimately, to adopt the view of the dominant actor (the buyer), as the vantage point for our analysis. Our research begins with an assessment of the broad issues framing the subject of supply chain management today, principally the factors of globalization, the internet, and value networks. We proceed by looking at the principal actors, giving particular attention to the needs of the buyer, in its capacity as customer. This is followed by a discussion of the value drivers influencing management thinking today and a proposed framework for establishing the foundational architecture of future network strategies. We conclude with a summary of our findings and an assessment of the role of the logistics provider. / by Paolo Felice Bassetti & Gary Michael Romano. / M.B.A.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1984. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND DEWEY. / Bibliography: leaves 215-218. / by Joseph Gerard Paul and Thomas Lawrence Strother. / M.S.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2009. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-234). / This research challenges the popular conception that BlackBerry use is solely an individual phenomenon. Email is social. People use and experience the potential for wireless email in terms of their occupational identity, daily work practices and organizational context. I collected longitudinal qualitative data from the in-house legal counsel and U.S. mobile sales in a mid-sized footwear and apparel company to understand the process through which people experience wireless email over time. I examined how each group engaged with the BlackBerry from its introduction to over three years of use. My inductive study reveals how initial technological frames inform, but do not determine, emerging patterns of BlackBerry use and how such frames can shift dramatically over time. Further, I trace how individual experience evolves into shared norms that carry significant personal consequences for group members. I unpack how BlackBerry users in the legal team shaped the potential for constant access into a form of social constraint, while BlackBerry users the sales force embraced expanded access to email as enabling increased autonomy and personal time. This work contributes to current research on communication in the digital age by highlighting key dimensions such as anticipated expectations of clients, peers and superiors, as well as the alignment between occupational identity and constant availability, that influence how users take up the potential for ubiquitous email. This research suggests a number of implications for the evolution of work practices, temporal structures, and ramifications of constant connectivity in the modern workplace. / by Melissa A. Mazmanian. / Ph.D.

Thesis: S.M. in Management Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2014. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 30-32). / What difference does robotic telepresence make to the management of ambiguity in distributed knowledge work? We examined this question in a post-surgical intensive care where remote medical workers struggled to coordinate their work in the face of ambiguities related to their extremely sick patients. Our in-depth field study allowed us to explore how differently ambiguity was managed when night rounds were performed through robotic telepresence, allowing distributed medical workers to be virtually co-present at the site of work. In contrast to the literature, which suggests that co-located, face-to-face interaction should reduce ambiguity and facilitate coordination, we found that ambiguities were both reduced and intensified with robotic telepresence, resulting in contradictory implications for coordination. We found that these differences in the management of ambiguity and coordination were crucially related to how the distributed work and commitment to that work were materially enacted in practice. After discussing our findings, we explore their significance and contributions to research on the management of ambiguity in distributed knowledge work. / by Matthew I. Beane, Wanda J. Orlikowski. / S.M. in Management Research

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 88). / by Tianwen Liu. / M.S.