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 172-177). / Program management is the art of creating success in a complex and ever changing environment. It is fueled on knowledge work. Trust and the relationships are the foundational enablers that must be actively managed and nurtured. The Department of Defense Acquisition System is vast and as with any large system, it contains a multitude of issues. This examination focuses on program management challenges faced by the Government Program Manager and their Defense Contractor counterpart, and how each introduce trust-based relationship barriers and enablers impacting an actor's ability to establish trust and a relationship. This inspection explores trust-based relationship barriers and enablers derived from five different bodies of knowledge. First, I establish a barrier and enabler baseline based on my own professional experience. Second, I capture literature research and theory based barriers and enablers, which provide a diverse and rich understanding of trust and relationships. Third, I conduct a process research study of two major programs and inspect readily available and secondary information to determine trust patterns, common themes, and unique perspectives. Fourth, I survey Acquisition Professionals to determine trust-based relationship barriers and enablers at the Executive, PM-to-PM, and Program Level. Concluding, I interview Acquisition Professionals to garner a deeper understanding of the Department of Defense Acquisition System. Throughout each body of knowledge, I compare barriers and enablers to identify common themes, which produces the basis for each recommendation. Recommendations are focused on improving a PM's skills and the environment in which he or she operates. Actors within the DoD Acquisition System are trained on process routines but are not adequately trained on enablers such as leadership and communication, which build a capability to intelligently execute the routine. Intelligent application of the process routine introduces program management flexibility and trust. This in turn allows an actor to leverage the process to build trust and success system wide. Without actors, trust, and relationships, the process will never produce 'art of the possible' results. / by Joshua P. Williams. / S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2012. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-98). / This research proposes enhancements to the Enterprise Architecture Method developed by Nightingale and Rhodes. By Enterprise Architecting we consider the following definition: "applying holistic thinking to design, valuate and select a preferred structure for a future state enterprise to realize its value proposition, and desired behaviors." (Nightingale & Rhodes, 2011) In this thesis we will focus on the steps needed to design the enterprise "To Be" Architecture. We try to find an answer to how senior leaders conceive and re-architect their enterprises. We propose five prescriptive steps to follow in the pre-architecting stage of the enterprise, and four steps to follow in the design of the "To Be" alternatives. Those steps enable a systematic process that assures the architect that all the main issues of candidate generation are covered, as well as, it helps to bring new and fresh ideas in the design phase of the Enterprise. Those steps are included in a broader method called the Enterprise Architecting Method for Generating and Evaluating Potential Future States (EAMGE), a systematic technique to guide enterprise leaders to make better decisions when deciding a future architecture when employing an enterprise transformation process. The method follows a spiral model of design that leads to more refined architectures. It allows to understand alternatives as well as estimate effectiveness, effort and risk for different alternatives and analyzes tradeoffs among them, leading to a more informed decision making process. Future work (is undergoing) will provide the evaluations stages proposed by EAMGE and will complement the steps proposed in this thesis. / by Francisco A. Zini. / 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. 108-111). / Executive Summary - The End of the Intel Era. Today, Intel is nearly synonymous with computers. In the past thirty years nearly all personal computers and the great majority of servers have shipped with a processor based on Intel's x86 architecture, of which Intel is the dominant vendor. Yet the past few years have seen a subtle yet remarkable convergence of different industry trends that very well may topple the semiconductor giant. For the past three decades, computers have largely assumed the same shape and form, regardless of their task. Laptops, desktops, and servers have all been based on the same open modular architecture established by IBM. Yet this is not likely to be the case going forward. The past decade has seen the rise of embedded computing, perhaps best epitomized by smartphones and tablet computers. Instead of the standard PC architecture where individual components can be easily exchanged, embedded devices are typically modular designs with highly integrated physical components. Independent functional units, all designed by independent companies, are integrated onto the same piece of silicon to achieve system cost and performance targets. Instead of a standard x86 processor, each device category likely has a chip optimized for its specific application. At the same time that the form of computing is changing, we are witnessing a redistribution of where computing power resides with Cloud Computing and data centers. These have ordinarily been the province of Intel based machines, but data centers have moved from using standard off-the-shelf PCs to custom designed motherboards. Again, we are seeing a shift from the modular personal computer architecture to one that is customized for the task at hand. Another concern for Intel is that the standard metrics by which products compete are in flux. For both embedded systems and data centers, the operational costs and constraints are starting to outweigh the initial outlay costs. An example is the industry shift from overall performance to system power efficiency. Intel has been a relentless driver of processor performance, and this is a significant change of focus for its R&D divisions. Of all Intel's competitors, ARM best represents the magnitude of these challenges for Intel, and is well positioned to take advantage of all these trends. Their business model of licensing their design is well suited for a world with customized architectures, and their extensive experience in low power embedded devices has given them an advantage over Intel in processor power efficiency. Intel is heavily invested in its existing vision of the market. They have always maintained a manufacturing process advantage through tremendous investments in new foundries, and have long championed the open PC modular architecture. Time will ultimately show if Intel is capable of meeting these growing challenges. Yet it is clear that in order to do so, it must make radical changes to itself. One may ask if it is even the same company that emerges. / by Robert Swope Fleming. / 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, 2013. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (page 83). / After an exodus of jobs in the last few years, the U.S. is committed to improving its manufacturing competiveness by investing in manufacturing innovation and increasing its labor force productivity. With rising labor costs in China and the current economic recession in Europe the timing could not be better for the U.S. to surge forward to gain back its competitive edge. These advantages along with the expected U.S. shale oil energy boom create an attractive opportunity for U.S. companies to re-shore their operations. This empirical manufacturing study analyzes the survey responses from a large number of companies with global manufacturing footprint and examines whether U.S. companies consider re-shoring their operations. The results show that a significant proportion, 33.6 percent of the U.S. companies are "considering" bringing manufacturing back to the U.S., while 15 percent of U.S companies are "definitely" planning to re-shore to the U.S. This is a very insightful finding and it shows that the re-shoring trend is picking up speed. We used the survey data to identify what drives this trend and whether this trend has made an impact. Competition in the manufacturing industry is instigating companies to reduce their supply chain costs. To retain their competiveness, companies are responding by implementing strategies such as lean manufacturing, outsourcing and offshoring. However, these strategies have significantly increased the company's exposure to supply chain risks. For example, lean manufacturing means lower inventory levels, and a high risk incident can cause a major disruption in operations. Similarly, as outsourcing and offshoring operations grow, supply chains become geographically dispersed and exposed to various types of risks. As a result, many companies are concerned about their supply chain resilience but only a few are effectively managing risk. Therefore, companies need to plan their supply chain strategy to effectively respond to various risks. This empirical study develops a framework to characterize the supply chain risk maturity level of each company. We then apply the maturity model to examine resiliency and operational effectiveness. The results offer a number of important insights: For example, companies with mature supply chain and risk management processes are more resilient than immature ones. The operational insights gained by this research can help companies manage today's challenges and prepare for tomorrow's opportunities. / by loannis M. Kyratzoglou. / 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, 2012. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-84). / The accident analysis method called STAMP (System-Theoretic Accident Model), developed by Prof. Nancy Leveson from MIT, was used here to re-analyze a High Speed Train accident in China. On July 23rd, 2011, 40 people were killed and 120 injured on the Yong-Wen High Speed Line. The purpose of this new analysis was to apply the broader view suggested by STAMP, considering the whole socio-technological system and not only equipment failures and operators mistakes, in order to come up with new findings, conclusions and recommendations for the High Speed Train System in China. The STAMP analysis revealed that the existing safety culture in the whole train organization, the Ministry of Railway and all its sub organizations in both the Train Development and Train Operation channels, do not meet the safety challenges involved in a high risk system like this- running frequent trains on the same line at 250km/h, with hundreds of passenger on board. The safety hazards were not systematically analyzed (not at the top level nor at the design level), safety constraints and safety requirements were very vaguely phrased, and no real enforcement was applied on safe design and implementation nor on safe operation. It looks like no clear policy on the performance/safety dilemma existed, nor the necessary safety education and training. Following from the STAMP analysis, one of the major recommendations in this thesis is to create a professional Train Safety Authority at the highest level, to be in charge of creating and supervising the rules for both Engineering and Operations, those two being highly interrelated with respect to safety. Specific Control Structures are recommended too, along with some detailed technical recommendations regarding the fail-safe design of the equipment involved in the accident. Another major recommendation is to design the safety critical systems, like the signaling control system using STPA ((System Theoretic Process Analysis), a hazard analysis technique. In the second part of this thesis, STPA is applied to another signaling system-Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) system-which is similar to the one presented in the first part. The primary goal of STPA is to include the new causal factors identified in STAMP that are not handled by the older techniques. It aims to identify accident scenarios that encompass the entire accident process, including design errors, social, organizational, and management factors contributing to accidents. These are demonstrated in the STPA analysis section. / by Airong Dong. / 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 2014. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 119-123). / Manufacturing and life science enterprises need a flexible and effective approach to respond to industrial compliances and high complexity in stakeholder communication. The paper proposes a system engineering approach in System Theoretical Process Analysis (STPA) as an enterprise transformation method adopted by IT consultancy firms to better define enterprise requirements for transformation and integrate change interventions into organizational structure. Despite STPA being a hazard analysis method, its corresponding hierarchical control structure applies to organizational structures, with adaptations to value x-matrices based on stakeholder value theory and process models necessary to match operators' mental models for control actions and attain information reusability and harmonized processes. Through alignment of the info-logical and socio-cultural aspects of integrated enterprises led by change program management, potential flaws in organizational structures and information systems are identified and proposed for resolution. A qualitative and visual approach using 2 change program cases and lean concept was adopted in this study. Surveys were conducted with program participants, and semi-structured interviews were held with program management to explore perspectives on utilizing the enterprise-adapted STPA. The outcomes are the validation of this method, and lean practice in change interventions as recommendations for integration of processes and enterprise functions and promotion of program flow. Keywords: Enterprise Architecture, System Engineering, Change Management, Program Management, Stakeholder Theory, STPA, Architectural Alignment, Communication, lean. / by Tan Shuijian. / S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010. / Page 100 blank. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 98-99). / The current power management technology baseline does not address the increasing gap between system charge performance and functionality needs in a smartphone. This gap can eventually inhibit further increases in functionality and develop a balancing loop effect that reduces smartphone growth rates. Longer smartphone operation duration between recharging is currently being addressed with the introduction of low power circuit chips, low power displays and power management software. This thesis explores options that improve overall power management by looking at the power source and recharging methods. This thesis also explores technology transitions and management strategies that address the different multi-mode interactions between technology transitions. / by Jui Min Lim. / S.M.in System Design 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. 61-62). / The global pharmaceutical business environment has been rapidly changing and has more competitive. Competition in pharmaceutical industry extended far beyond the traditional battle field, research and development. Bayer AG, a leading pharmaceutical company, decided to evaluate lean management as a tool to improve their competitiveness in the market. This thesis attempts to understand the system impact of the lean management implementation to the Bayer supply chain using modeling and simulation tools. The results of the model will be used to determine the system characteristics of current practice and lean practice. The objective of this thesis is to use the system characteristics generated from the simulation models and provide implementation recommendation to Bayer AG. / by Billy Hou. / S.M.in Engineering and Management

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2009. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 53-57). / The U.S. health care system relies on tort litigation as a means of protecting patients and consumers from medical malpractice. The system of tort litigation has contributed to the U.S. having the highest health care spending per capita of any nation, but it has not resulted in superior quality of care. This work argues that tort litigation in health care is actually detrimental to patient safety and that the deterrent effect that it is meant to provide is circumvented by elements inherent in tort law. The possibility of settlement without admission of guilt creates a mechanism by which litigation is encouraged by economic incentives, but actual malpractice is not effectively discouraged. Furthermore, the system limits the operational knowledge gained through adverse events by removing these events and the actions that created them from the public discourse. Various proposed and enacted reforms to medical tort litigation are considered and it is found that dysfunctional interactions between professionals of different disciplines constitute a major obstacle to effective system reform. Finally, a modular view of the health care system is presented as a step toward identifying and reforming these interactions. / by Michael David Moore. / S.M.

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 50-52). / Today's industry, government, and critical infrastructure are dependent on software systems. In their absence, our modern world would come to a stop. Given our dependence, the mounting cyber threat is of critical concern. In the majority of our systems, passwords are the keys to the system. Unfortunately, there has been little innovation and vulnerabilities keep mounting. Even with established and well known defenses, no authority has emerged to establish policies or laws that guarantee their implementation. The response has been more complex passwords. This is not working. This thesis presents the state of the practice in password systems and introduces work in Negative Authentication and its implementations. / by Alvaro Madero. / S.M. in Engineering and Management