Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2013. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 105-108). / Akamai Technologies has achieved market leadership in content delivery and application acceleration services and is pursuing aggressive growth. Akamai has advised the market that growth to $5B by 2020 is achievable by exploiting opportunity within its key markets. However, the internal consensus is that Akamai's legacy business practices are incapable of scaling at the rate of market growth. What must Akamai do to execute on its revenue goals and, more broadly, how can Akamai maintain a leadership position within a dynamic and rapidly expanding market? The goal of this thesis is to discover the elements of Akamai's legacy and emerging growth strategies and to identify strategic options that Akamai may pursue. To gain perspective into evolution of the business and the rationale for current strategic initiatives, a series of interviews with Akamai managers was conducted and a review of an Akamai case study and corporate quarterly earnings was completed. This information yielded insights on the challenges of growth, actions for overcoming these challenges, and motivations for selecting those actions. To gain insight into best practices in growth strategy, a survey of the business strategy literature and case studies of successful technology platform companies was conducted. The literature differentiated between product-based business strategies and platform-based business strategies. Analysis of the differences between these strategies provided insights into Akamai's current challenges. / by Victor L. Piper. / S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2014. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 90-91). / Airborne networks are being developed to provide communications services in order to augment space-based and terrestrial communications systems. These airborne networks must provide point to point wireless communications capabilities between aircraft and to ground-based users. Architecting airborne networks requires evaluating the capabilities offered by candidate aircraft to operate at the required altitudes to bridge communications among ground users dispersed over large geographic areas. Decision makers are often faced with choices regarding the type and number of aircraft to utilize in an airborne network to meet information exchange requirements. In addition, the type of radio required to meet user needs may also factor into the architecture evaluation for an airborne network. Aircraft and radio design choices must be made under cost constraints in order to deliver capable communications architectures at an acceptable cost. Evaluating communications architectures is often conducted with modeling and simulation. However, evaluations typically focus on specific network configurations and can become intractable when varying design variables such as aircraft and radio types due to the complexity of the trade space being analyzed. Furthermore, the growth in choices for design variables (such as additional aircraft types) can lead to enormous growth in the number of feasible candidate architectures to analyze. The methodology developed and presented herein describes an approach for evaluating a large number of architecture combinations which vary on aircraft type and radio type for representative airborne networks. The methodology utilizes modeling and simulation to generate wireless communications performance data for candidate aircraft and radio types and enumerates a large trade space through a computational tool. The trade space is then evaluated against a multi-objective decision model to rapidly down-select to a handful of candidate architectures for more detailed analysis. The results of this analysis provide effective tools for reducing the complex trade space to a tractable number of architectures to make an informed architectural decision with no prior articulation of preferences for performance measures. For the notional concept of operation analyzed, the number of feasible architectures was approximately 500,000 for each of the two radio types examined. The decision model implemented reduced the feasible architectures to approximately 50 near-optimal architectures for each radio type. From this manageable set of near-optimal architectures, an analysis is conducted to evaluate marginal benefits versus cost to further reduce the candidate architectures to 3 architectures for each radio type. From these remaining architectures, detailed analysis and visualization can be conducted to aid decision makers in articulating preferences and identifying a single "best" architecture based on mission needs. The enumeration of the trade space using the computational tool and multi-objective decision model is highly flexible to incorporating new constraints and generating new candidate architectures as stakeholder preferences become clearer. The trade space enumeration and decision model can be conducted rapidly to down-select large trade spaces to a tractable number of communications architectures to inform an architectural recommendation. / by Stephen P. Ajemian. / S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2014. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (page 211). / The Air Force Test Center (AFTC) faces new challenges as it continues into the 21st century as the world's leader in developmental flight test. New technologies are becoming ever more sophisticated and less transparent, driving an increase in complexity for tests designed to evaluate them. This shift will place more demands on the AFTC Safety Management System to effectively analyze hazards and preempt the conditions that lead to accidents. In order to determine whether the AFTC Safety Management System is prepared to handle new safety challenges, this thesis applied Dr. Nancy Leveson's Systems-Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) technique. The safety management system was analyzed and potential safety constraint violations due to systemic factors, unsafe component interactions, as well as component failures were investigated. The analysis identified the key features that make the system effective; gaps in the sub-processes, roles, responsibilities, and tools; and opportunities to improve the system. These findings will provide insights on how the AFTC Safety Management System can be improved with the aim of preventing accidents from occurring during flight test operations. Finally, this thesis demonstrated the effectiveness of the STPA technique at hazard analysis on an organizational process. / by Nicholas Chung. / S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2014. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 71-73). / Email, Instant Messaging, Voice Over IP (VOIP) and other means of online communication have become so ubiquitous today that we rarely take a moment to acknowledge how the internet has changed and redefined the ways in which we communicate and collaborate with fellow human beings. The internet has empowered us to collaborate with others in ways that were not possible till just a few years ago. As we communicate and interact with each other and form relationships, we weave intricate Social Networks that can be analyzed and exhibit communication patterns that can be quantified. In this thesis I have applied Social Network Analysis based techniques that constitute Coolhunting (Gloor & Cooper, 2007) to analyze E-Mail and WebEx communications of sales professionals of a large technology company. I have quantified communication patterns and computed metrics of social network prominence such as degree and betweenness centralities using Condor, a Social Network Analysis and Coolhunting software. Several significant correlations between the success of sales professionals and these quantified communication patterns and centrality measures were found. The communication patterns and centralities of the sales professionals exhibited several traits of Collaborative Innovation Networks or COINs (Gloor, 2006). I have assessed the implications of these communication patterns and correlations and applied the concept of Coolfarming (Gloor, 2011 a) to make recommendations to the technology company on how it could leverage the power of these COINs to their advantage. Key Terms: Collaborative Innovation Networks (COINs), Coolhunting, Coolfarming, Social Network Analysis, Condor, E-Mail, WebEx / by Rohan Kulkarni. / S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2015. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 63-68). / Startup founders are thought to be the super women and men of the technology world these days. Many founders transition into the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) role within their companies and are expected to have the knowledge to lead large organizations through these fast growth and transition periods at a rate much faster than previously encountered in history. While some founders have backgrounds and experience to leverage in order to help them, many do not. Regardless, many high technology founder CEOs are leading companies that grow from nothing into billion dollar valuations and various stages of growth or failure between. This thesis seeks to investigate key traits of high technology founder CEOs, the technologies they create and manage, and research surrounding their transition from founder into the CEO role to include leadership characteristics. An effort will be made to further understand what contributes to a founder CEOs success and based on that recommendations will be given providing some key guidelines. Lastly, example cases will be showcased to highlight how and what founder CEOs have and are doing to create success for not only them, but also their companies, investors, and employees. / by Phatty Arbuckle. / S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2015. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 104-105). / The Army Substance Abuse Program is a program within the United States Army that has the mission to deter, detect, and treat substance abuse by US Army Soldiers, Civilians, and Family Members. This thesis examines the program from a systems point of view, using the generic US Army installation for the system boundary, and how the system creates value for the installation enterprise. This thesis first explores the motivation for this research, drawing on contemporary reports from the US Army, published news articles, and my own personal experience. Secondly, I examine the system from a systems architecture perspective, employing design structure matrices or adjacency matrices, based on the normative state of the system codified in US Army Regulations. In doing so, I highlight the important architectural changes within the program since 2001 and determine what aspects of the architecture inhibit the program's performance. Thirdly, I examine the system's dynamic behavior over time and establish a causal loop diagram to explain that behavior, drawing on the US Army's reports, the literature surrounding management response to substance abuse in the workplace, and field interviews. I then examine whether commanders are actually adhering to the required processes and if key commander-driven processes are effective in deterring substance abuse. Concluding, I recommend specific actions that can drive more benefit from the program, particularly from the point of view of leader supervision. The research here suggests a degree of architectural dissonance within the program that may limit performance across the US Army. The choices of data capture, access, and authority across organizational boundaries inhibit real-time supervision through command channels and coordination of medical care. Although actions seem to be mostly in compliance with regulations, the rate of non-referrals after positive drug tests is a notable exception. The rate of testing soldiers seems to have the desired impact on behavior while the impact of other commander-driven actions is mixed. / by Christopher S. Wadsworth. / S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-86). / In recent years, many of the Department of Defense's major acquisition programs have experienced significant budget overruns and schedule delays. Closer examination of these programs reveals that in many cases, technologies were selected for these programs that did not meet expectations to enable the overall weapons system to achieve its intended goals. A methodology is proposed to extend systems analysis techniques to individual technologies to utilize a rational basis for technology selection. An example of this methodology is shown based on selecting technologies for the US Army's Active Protection System. The example demonstrates that use of this methodology can provide decision makers with a clear understanding of the effects choosing particular technologies. / by Michael L. Nair. / S.M.in Engineering and Management

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, February 2015. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (page 77). / Usage in information technology (IT) have improved efficiency and quality in many industries. Healthcare has not been one of them. Although some administrative IT systems, such as those for billing, scheduling, and inventory management, are already in place in the healthcare industry, little adoption of clinical IT, such as Electronic Medical Record Systems (EMR-S) and Clinical Decision Support tools, has occurred. India's healthcare information technology market is slow with technology adoption but there is little traction shown in last couple of years. This growth is expected to hit US $1.45 billion in 2018, more than three times the US $381.3 million reached in 2012. The increase in adoption of electronic health records, mHealth, telemedicine, and Web-based services has made electronic patient data expand, necessitating the implementation of robust IT systems in Indian healthcare institutions. Information technology (IT) has the potential to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of health care. Diffusion of IT in health care is generally low (varying, however, with the application and setting) but surveys indicate that providers plan to increase their investments. Drivers of investment in IT include the promise of quality and efficiency gains. Barriers include the cost and complexity of IT implementation, which often necessitates significant work process and cultural changes. Given IT's potential, both the private and public sectors have engaged in numerous efforts to promote its use within and across health care settings. Delivering quality health care requires providers and patients to integrate complex information from many different sources. Thus, increasing the ability of physicians, nurses, clinical technicians, and others to readily access and use the right information about their patients should improve care. The purpose of this thesis is to assess the current state of healthcare in India and specifically look into the emerging technology trends in healthcare IT. During analysis secondary data has been used. Various articles and research papers published in national and international journals are used. India is hub of IT and its use is increasing in health sector. / by Sanjay Kumar Gautam. / S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-65). / Advances in microfluidics in the last two decade have created a tremendous technological value which is shaping genomics; drug discovery; proteomics; and point-of-care diagnostics. The positive impact has resulted in faster analysis time, increased throughput and reduced cost amongst other important benefits. Yet, the life sciences end-users and the microfluidics players themselves are far from fully capturing the value. Author's own observation based on the experience at a leading genomics research institute, where multiple efforts to implement microfluidics technologies hardly succeeded, supports this fact. The failure to fully capture value has serious implications for the vendors developing microfluidics and the researchers employing these technologies. What are the reasons for this failure? What could be done to increase the value capture? Using well-established management frameworks, such as, s-curve, adopter's distribution model, the thesis studied the nature of value creation and value capture. Survey was used to quantify the impact and the diffusion and adoption of microfluidics technologies, as the respective indicators of value creation and value capture. The data support the insight obtained from the conceptual frameworks that microfluidics is still an immature technology. It also shows that immature technology is the primary reason for lack of full value capture rather than the lack of killer application or niche market - commonly reported reasons in the literature. As an immature technology, microfluidics is thus far still only in the hands of users who are innovators and early adopters - the academic laboratories and the research institutes. The application segments which have seen the most value capture are Genomics and Point-of-care diagnostics. The application segment which has seen the least value capture is Drug discovery. This thesis concludes with the recommendations for short and long term strategies for increasing value capture and accelerating the adoption of microfluidics. / by Shailendra Yadav. / S.M.in System Design and Management

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program; and, (S.M. in Ocean Systems Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 104-105). / Internet technology has changed this world rapidly in the past decade. The influence of E-business on the economy and business practice has been tremendous. The focus of many companies has been on improving the extended enterprise transactions including Business-to Customer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B). Facing this shift in corporate focus, more and more companies realize the importance of supply chain management in the global E-business environment. The purpose of this thesis is to understand the relationship between supply chain management and E-business, especially from international point of view. The analysis started from the review of supply chain management and E-business, further continued on the strategic impact of E-business on supply chain management and discussed the associate issues during the integration of E-business and supply chain. Finally, some future opportunities will be introduced to illustrate new developments in the E-supply chain environment, especially for small business. / by Yujun (Eugene) Xiao. / S.M.in Ocean Systems Management / S.M.