Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, February 2002. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-95). / by John F. Mullooly, Jr. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-95). / by Agus Sudjianto. / S.M.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 64-65). / Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007. / Software development projects and products have long shouldered a reputation for missed deadlines, blown budgets, and low quality. Unfortunately, this negative reputation appears to be supported by more than just anecdotal evidence; quoting an industry study', respected software development expert and author Steve McConnell reports in his book Professional Software Development" that "Roughly 25 percent of all projects fail outright, and the typical project is 100 percent over budget at the point it's canceled." What's more, notes McConnell, "Fifty percent of projects are delivered late, over-budget, or with less functionality than desired." Exactly why software development projects and products have historically performed so poorly and with arguably little if any improvement over the past 40 years, however, is a subject on which there is less agreement. While blame often aligns along functional (product marketing and sales) versus technical (software development) lines, the increasing popularity of different and often contradictory software development methodologies seems to suggest that no real consensus exists within the software development community itself. The goal of this thesis is twofold: 1. To describe a set of key factors to consider when analyzing software processes 2. To outline an organizational framework that is optimized for implementing and managing software development practices / by Gregory B. Russell. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 44). / by Karl J. Hauenstien. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-73). / by Brian Y. Lim. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, February 1999. / Includes bibliographical references and index. / by Nader Anvari. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. / Fire fighting in project management is the unplanned allocation of resources to either fix problems or speed completion of a project. In a startup company environment, fire fighting oftentimes becomes the norm rather than the exception despite the best efforts to eliminate it. In particular, there are frequently constrained resources, and project managers face tough allocation decisions that can lead to a fire fighting culture. This thesis develops a system dynamics model to simulate the resource allocation decisions a group of Project Managers at a startup company must face. A current state simulation is presented with a discussion of current practices, and several future alternative scenarios are tested and analyzed. Results show that current practices allow for on-time completion of projects within reasonable work hours. Hiring of additional employees may be able to reduce the gross number of hours employees work, and workforce expansion is compared versus increased project workload to identify acceptable and sustainable levels of growth. Productivity gains in the form of increased computational speed were found to be as effective as hiring new employees, and developing in-house manufacturing capabilities may be viable depending on cost and flexibility. Unexpectedly, fire fighting behavior in the system dynamics model was observed to be minimal, and the flexibility inherent in the startup environment was a major contributor to minimizing fire fighting that did occur. / by Melvin H. Chiang. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-133). / This thesis examines The Toyota Motor Corporation's core precepts, management principles, supply chain architecture, product development methods, leveraged practice of supplier partnerships and procurement practices, all of which are integral elements associated with the Toyota Production System, and assesses the scalability these elements for application in the commercial aerospace industry.The methodology used in this study includes an examination of basic concepts and practices that Toyota employs throughout its extended enterprise and which are being widely adopted throughout the automotive industry as well as other industries worldwide, based on a review of the open literature. The research also draws upon the author's first-hand exposure to Toyota's production system through field research involving benchmarking site-visits to Toyota plants, and makes use of extensive interviews conducted with both automotive and aerospace industry experts.The research reported in this thesis reveals that Toyota's Production System, as a mutually reinforcing set of principles, methods and practices, are indeed scalable to the aerospace industry and that one of the two commercial aerospace behemoths, Boeing and Airbus, has an opportunity to leverage them in order to obtain a clear and sustainable competitive advantage in the industry. This is possible, however, with an important caveat: the end-to-end enterprise transformation process would need to be based on adopting a long-term approach to renovating the current system, working closely with the supply chain partners, owning the change process, and holding steady over the longer-haul. / by Steven M. Patneaude. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2003. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / "February 2003." / Includes bibliographical references (p. 126-127). / by Jeremy P. Tondreault. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 96-99). / Firms must continuously strive to grow through the creation of new sources of competitive advantage. The challenges to growth are more severe for large, established firms that derive a predominant amount of their present revenue from technology that is mature and that faces imminent substitution through the marketplace emergence of a disruptive technology. In such circumstances, non-traditional growth, through new business opportunities outside of the direct purview of established Strategic Business Units, becomes an imperative. The primary hypothesis of this study is that problems in achieving growth predominantly stem from the inherent rigidities of large, established firms and, in order to successfully grow, these firms will have to pay particular attention to the structures and processes associated with teams tasked with growth. Accordingly, a theoretical framework for classifying non-traditional growth opportunities is developed. The study is motivated using three examples of non-traditional growth projects in a large, established firm. These examples are used to develop three key dimensions for characterizing such opportunities--technology, market, and organization. The proposed framework builds upon structural contingency theories to develop two independent factors for each dimension--uncertainty and interdependence. A vector mapping applicable to all non-traditional growth opportunities is developed using the two factors and three dimensions. The vector mapping is used to propose a linkage between growth opportunity and organizational form. A survey administered to 24 project leaders/managers of non-traditional growth projects in a single, large firm is used to test the applicability of the framework developed here. A statistical / (cont.) analysis of the survey results corroborates the significance of market and technology factors. Organizational factors appear to be less significant, but this may be due to artifacts in the data. Finally, a concept explored in this study is that organizations must become more ambidextrous in their ability to use multiple organizational forms, simultaneously, to exploit non-traditional growth opportunities. Implementation considerations relevant to the recommended organizational forms are discussed within the specific product development process framework in a single, large firm. / by Suresh Sunderrajan. / S.M.