Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 77). / As the diffusion of the Internet reaches the early majority phase, customers, both retail consumers and businesses, are utilizing the Internet in ever increasing numbers for the information search and decision making portions of the sales process. Consumers are online actively searching, researching, selecting, and purchasing products. The most direct output of this process is the end product selection, but many opportunities present themselves for the improvement of market research and corporate product development through the utilization and analysis of the online purchase process. This opportunity is especially applicable to a purchase process in which the customer is not just searching for products by selecting hard constraints around product attributes, but is instead engaged in an online dialogue with a trusted virtual advisor. During this dialogue, the customer reveals their product needs and preferences and the trusted advisor recommends products based upon a maximization of customer utility. If a "perfect" product is available for each customer, then the maximum utility value across all available products will be constantly rising during the online dialogue and all customer needs will be met. Given the reality of product development limitations, ever-changing customer needs, and the introduction of new products and features, consumers are routinely left with unmet needs. This thesis focuses on the development and implementation of a virtual engineer who, after the customer has explicitly given permission, listens to the dialogue between the customer and the trusted virtual advisor. When an unmet customer need is identified through a drop in the maximum calculated utility, the virtual engineer joins the online dialogue. Through the automated generation of contextual questions around the unmet need, the engineer gathers detailed information about the exact nature of the customer's need and translates that need into useful engineering terms. After a large number of customer needs have been collected, the Listening In! process estimates the market share opportunity currently available through the introduction of products that meet the identified needs. The Listening In! process represents a new opportunity in the utilization of the Internet for the improvement of both market research and the traditional product development process. / by Christopher Cyril Mann. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 1999. / "September 1999." / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 30-31). / by Kimberly J. Ryan. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 184-187). / The case for proactive market interventions to stimulate accelerated development and adoption of cleaner advanced fuel/vehicle systems continues to gain momentum globally. World population growth, rising national wealth, persistence of auto-centric land development patterns, and the growing popularity of truck-based platforms have reversed the trend toward lighter vehicles, higher fuel efficiencies, and cleaner emissions that began in the 1970's. Since 1984, fuel efficiency has stagnated and even declined as oil prices moved to historically low levels. Lack of consumer demand for fuel economy served to shift investment toward other measures of value such as performance and utility. The convergence of car and truck markets has further impeded progress on the fuel economy front. Industry continues to come under intensifying pressure from international and domestic concerns regarding adverse vehicle emissions impacts on public health, environmental degradation, global climate change, and national security vulnerabilities stemming from dependence on foreign oil. In response, the world's major auto conglomerates have embarked on a variety of strategies to deliver cleaner vehicles to market. Strategies span in-house and strategic partnering efforts across a range of both available and developing technologies in fuels, batteries, fuel cells, electric hybrids, and improvements to current internal combustion engine (ICE) designs. This thesis intends to examine a set of representative technological solution pathways that address two key questions for decision-makers: (1) whether market adoption of advanced fuel/vehicle systems can occur under plausible conditions, and (2) what industry strategies and public interventions can best leverage innovation to achieve the accelerated adoption of technologies beneficial to sustainability goals? To answer these questions, the work employs a system dynamics-based model in order to simulate the complex dynamics surrounding this issue. The model provides a useful framework for comprehending the relative directional impacts of varying industry strategies, public interventions, and external market and cultural forces that affect potential outcomes. The work suggests that plausible adoption scenarios are realizable within a thirty-year time horizon, but that forces deleterious to the innovative capacity of established domestic firms may significantly impede progress. I outline these forces, explain their origins, and recommend industry strategies and public interventions that appropriately address these obstacles. / by Eric C. Cahill. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-134). / Lean principles focus on employing value added activities to reduce product development cycle time, increase quality, and reduce cost. Lean originated in the automotive industry and has since been centered in the manufacturing domain. Lessons learned on implementing Lean initiatives have been captured by the in the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) and incorporated into the Lean Enterprise Model (LEM) (http://lean.mit.edu/public/index.html). To the author's knowledge, this is the first research effort specifically designed to apply the Lean principles and the Lean Enterprise Model to the aerospace software requirement derivation process. Data supporting this research is the result of a comprehensive two-year research effort involving three detailed case studies with 45 case study interviews, 125 stakeholder surveys collected from ten aerospace software upgrades, feedback from numerous aerospace industry practitioners and Massachusetts Institute of technology (MIT) faculty. Ten aerospace software upgrades were analyzed at both an enterprise level and an organizational level to identify the presence of Lean practices. At the enterprise level, metrics typically used to measure enterprise performance (Flow Time, Stakeholder Satisfaction, Quality Yield, and Resource Utilization) were found to be appropriate for the software requirement process but not adequately implemented. An organizational analysis observed five of the twelve Lean practices as effectively implemented and identified opportunities to implement four more Lean practices. / by Brian J. Ippolito. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 57-58). / The software product business reached the $150 billion mark at the end of 2005. The pricing and licensing of new products, maintenance services, services and service maintenance have become an important strategy to deliver smooth and steady revenue growth. The main objective of this thesis work is to observe the trends among various revenue prospects such as product sales, maintenance sales, service sales and service maintenance sales revenue. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses are pursued to achieve the research objectives. The software industry has gone through several transformations from its debut. Initially, it started as service-oriented industry and then transitioned into a product-oriented industry and is currently transforming into a hybrid of both product and service industries. Just as the industry has undergone from a service to a product to a service (more like a hybrid) oriented industry, so too has the product licensing and maintenance licensing scenario been changing. Perpetual licensing has established its strong presence from the very beginning. While both single user and concurrent user licensing models were standard license offerings, concurrent licensing has been eliminated from the enterprise application segment. A usage-based licensing model is gaining popularity but perpetual licensing continues to be the preferred one. Software firms sell a lot of products early on and fail to keep up the same rate of new sales to new customers. From the regression model, it was observed that the product sales as a percent of total sales decreased by 2.6% each year. As the firm grows older, the firm's rate of growth of product sales decreases. Also, product sales as a percent of total sales increased by 0.88 % for each percentage increase in growth of maintenance sales. / (cont.) Software firms are providing various contents that are included in the maintenance service. Maintenance discounting occurs but not comparable to new product discounting. Fix-time promise in maintenance rather than just the response time commitment is an emerging trend. Software firms are pushing premium maintenance services along with subscription-based licensing offerings. It was also observed that maintenance sales as a percent of total sales increased by 2.1% each year. Also, the maintenance sales as a percent of total sales increased by 0.42 % for each percent decrease in the growth of product sales. At the very early stages of the firm, rate of growth of maintenance sales is low and increases as the firm gets older. / by Shivashis Nayak. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 202-203). / The automobile embodies complex dynamic system architecture with thousands of components and as many interconnections. The modern day vehicle architecture attempts to balance significant tradeoffs and constraints to achieve the system goals. There are innumerable combinations, which may or may not achieve success. This work proposes a new method for evaluation of complex dynamic system architecture through a hierarchical synthesis of specific qualitative and quantitative tools and methods within a system architecture framework. The proposed methodology is applied to key subsystems of a specific high performance car to assess primarily the merits of the process. Current methods for system architecture definition at the automobile manufacturer utilized for analysis rely primarily on experience-based intuition within an architecting framework. Current system architecture frameworks and the manufacturer's process utilized appear insufficient, as significant issues (often dynamics related) arise in the verification and validation phase of their product development process, requiring change to vehicle architecture. Changes in architecture at this phase of the manufacturer's product development process have significant cost, timing and perhaps functional performance implications. Many system architecture and engineering tools exist to aid architecture definition, but a hierarchy in usage and the interrelationships of the tools are not clearly defined. The proposed solution for rigorous complex dynamic system architecture evaluation includes a four phase hierarchical synthesis of known qualitative and quantitative tools and methods within a holistic system architecture framework. For purposes of this thesis, the proposed evaluation methodology is labeled "CD-SAAM" for Complex Dynamic System Architecture Assessment Methodology. The proposed methodology is a rigorous complement, superimposed on the concept development phase, to the standard product development design process. CD-SAAM mainly combines known system architecting and system engineering framework, principles and tools. Application of CD-SAAM to a high performance car's powertrain and chassis system architecture's second level form and function decomposition, serve to demonstrate many high level conclusions. The hierarchy and synthesis of framework, principles and tools in CD-SAAM provided a valuable and rigorous method to evaluate complex dynamic system architecture. While certain aspects of the proposed methodology appear time-consuming, each step and the overall process serve to greatly improve consistent success with respect to achievement of a system's goals within its constraints. Application of CD-SAAM also underscores the importance and need for explicit design parameter identification and analysis in complex dynamic system architecture assessment. The performance car application also provides insight into the value of DOE RSE methods in architecture assessment, as opposed to its typical region of use in detailed design analysis. Finally, a positive by-product of the analysis includes CD-SAAM's ability to evaluate the consistency and attainability of goals within the given constraints. / by Scott M. Ahlman. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2004. / "February 2004." / Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-88). / As Ford Motor Company celebrates its 100th anniversary; it finds itself in a crisis due to its lack of technical proficiency. The lack of technical depth within the workforce is the result of a deeply ingrained culture that encourages employees to change positions every 18-24 months to vastly diverse parts of the company. The problem is exacerbated by years of early retirements, company sell-offs and outsourcing of technical design work to full service suppliers. In reaction to the lack of technical competency, Ford has undergone one of the largest reorganizations in their history. The new organization is now centered on function with loose ties back to the many vehicle programs. In order to encourage a new corporate culture that values technical depth over being a generalist, Ford has also developed additional projects within the organization. One of the most prominent is the Employee Stability Project (ESP) and Technical Maturity Model (TMM) that focus in on developing a technical development plan for each individual engineer. This research analyzes the rollout of the ESP/TMM project within the Body Engineering function (with some comparisons to the Chassis Organization). Data was collected through two surveys conducted nine months apart and focus group sessions. The surveys encompassed the entire Body Engineering organization. In addition, the culture at Ford was compared with the culture developed at one of its main rivals, Toyota. The data for Toyota was collected through one-on-one interviews. The result of the data collected show that entire workforce recognizes that the lack of technical depth within the company is an issue. / (cont.) In addition, the concepts and principles behind the ESP/TMM project are understood and deemed important to the company's success. However, there is still resistance to the adoption of the project and momentum behind the support of the ESP/TMM project appears to be stalling. The recommendations by the authors include reinforcing communication, recognition, and demonstration of appropriate technical behaviors at every level within the organization. Ford should also utilize the technical depth within the company (in the form of senior engineers and technical specialists) upfront in the development in new programs and as consultants at key technical milestones to maximize their effectiveness and teaching opportunities. There are also several recommendations around the Individual Technical Development Plan in order to encourage its adoption and ensure its usefulness to the technical development of the engineers. Finally, a vision of a fully functioning, highly technical organization is described to show how this organization can quickly adapt to future challenges that the company may face. / by Candy S. Chatawanich and Timothy A. Rush. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, February 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 104-106). / The objective of this thesis is to lay the foundation for developing effective strategies for coordinated use of computational simulation and experiments in engineering design. The primary research objectives are to explore the drivers behind the use of simulations and experiments in industry as related to decision making. We analyze how simulation development integrates into the engineering process, and analyze current simulation strategies as they relate to the product development. The intent is to illuminate the issues surrounding the application of simulation and experimentation that will lead to the ability to define a set of corporate strategies that will enable companies to better integrate simulations and experiment into their existing product development process. This thesis suggests a set of Hypothesis related to decision making in engineering, and probes into one of these hypotheses to investigate the confidence level engineers exhibit when required to make a decision based on the presentation method of a simulation. The Hypotheses discussed in this thesis provide a starting point from which to explore dissertations on human-engineering process integration. By better understanding the human in the engineering process, we can better understand the engineering process. / by Aristos Orpheas Dimitriou. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, June 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-98). / Where can things go wrong? This deceptively simple question has fascinated mankind since time immemorial. The question in fact forms the basis of risk management. The focus of this thesis is the risk management of supply chains. Any factor that is likely to disrupt the procurement, production, or delivery of a good or a service constitutes a supply chain risk. As several case studies from around the world indicate [4], disruptions to an enterprise's supply chain could be catastrophic to business, human safety, market competitiveness, and even national and international economies. It is therefore imperative that an a priori assessment of the factors that pose a risk to the supply chain be conducted and contingency plans developed at strategic, tactical, and operational levels to monitor and mitigate those risks. This thesis will identify all major risks that are likely to disrupt a supply chain; identify the data needed to continuously monitor each risk; suggest a synthesized framework for managing supply chain risks; propose different models to quantify risks and asses their consequences; and suggest guidelines for model use. Further, it will present a case study based on the models developed and propose a decision support system based on these models and necessary data. This work will help enterprises develop risk management plans at the strategic, tactical and operational levels, along various time horizons, and be able to execute them when supply chain risks are encountered. The target audience for this thesis includes a broad spectrum of supply chain professionals, consultants, supervisors, top executives, risk professionals, managers, software entrepreneurs, academicians, and students. / by Vinay Deshmukh. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-118). / by Luis C. Rabelo Mendizabal. / S.M.