Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-73). / Project managers from varying industries face common challenges that exist in complex projects. Examples include: product and resource dependencies, poor communication of critical information within a project, lack of project control, lack of adequate tools to manage resources, etc. Best practices and industry standards (e.g. Capability Maturity Model, Total Quality Management) have been found to mitigate many of these problems when fully implemented. However, no automated tool exists that collectively implements and supports these practices. This thesis proposes a tool that automates many of the requirements management processes and project management processes across all stages of a project's lifecycle. In developing the architecture for such a tool, an industry survey was conducted among leaders from academic, government, and commercial organizations to determine common approaches and obstacles prevalent in managing projects. Based on the survey data, this thesis describes the system architecture and design of a project management tool comprised of numerous protocols. These protocols help to create an environment which minimizes the resistance to change as a result of organizational culture. This tool provides a new set of standards and practices for more mature project management. The results of following these standards and practices are: a left shift of project targets with less variation from estimates to actual results, formal defined project processes for inner and inter-project coordination, project configuration control and maintenance of requirements and historical data, risk management for dependencies and critical paths, automated tools that reduce project overhead and a project tracking and oversight mechanism. Although this thesis is based on an analysis of best practices and industry standards, the resultant framework is original. The proposed architecture can be utilized to develop a world class project and knowledge management software application. / by Roshanak Gilani. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2009. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 82-83). / Open source software development models have created some of the most innovative tools and companies in the industry today modifying the way value is created and businesses developed. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze open source hardware in its current state and its potential impact at several stages of the value chain. Existing examples of open source hardware at different stages of the value chain are analyzed in terms of their innovation and potential impact to existing players in the value chain. An Ethernet framer is develop through the use of traditional development and benchmarked against a design developed based on open source hardware cores. The research concludes with an examination of business models established around open source hardware. / by Roberto Acosta. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 134-135). / Two major organizational tools, Integrated Process and Product Development (IPPD) and co-location, have been key initiatives in many corporate knowledge management and information flow strategies. The benefits of IPPD and co-location are well documented, and central to the success of these tools is the increased information flow and knowledge transfer across organizational boundaries. The fundamental knowledge management philosophy of IPPD is person-to-person tacit knowledge sharing and capture through the establishment of multi-disciplined Integrated Product Teams (IPT). Co-location of the integrated product team members has facilitated frequent informal face-to-face information flow outside of the structured meetings typical of IPPD processes. In today's global environment, the development and manufacture of large complex systems can involve hundreds, if not thousands, of geographically dispersed engineers often from different companies working on IPTs. In such an environment, the implementation of IPPD is challenging, and co-location is not feasible across the entire enterprise. The development of a comprehensive knowledge capture and information flow strategy aligned to the organizational architecture and processes involved with proper utilization of available information technologies is critical in facilitating information flow and knowledge transfer between dispersed IPTs. In this thesis we provide a case study of the knowledge capture and information flow issues that have arisen with the recent transition to the Module Center organization at Pratt & Whitney. We identify several critical enablers for efficient information flow and knowledge capture in a dispersed IPT environment by analyzing qualitative and quantitative survey data obtained at Pratt & Whitney, existing research in this area, and our own observations as participants in this environment. From this analysis, we identify key information flow and knowledge capture issues and provide recommendations for potential improvement. The Design Structures Matrix (DSM) methodology is used to understand the complex, tightly coupled information flow between the IPTs that exist at Pratt & Whitney. We build upon the previous Pratt & Whitney DSM work. The proposed DSM is not only a valuable tool identifying the information flow paths that exist between part level and system level attributes, but also can be utilized as an information technology tool to capture the content or knowledge contained in the information flow paths identified. / by Stephen V. Glynn [and] Thomas G. Pelland. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 85). / Knowledge Transfer is a generic term that is applicable to many domains. This thesis will analyze the specific issues required to develop a comprehensive framework for the assessment of knowledge transfer in the software development environment. Knowledge transfer is an essential component of all business processes in software development. The framework in this thesis was developed at a level of sufficient abstraction to be applicable to all software development activities. However, the research interviews focused on two scenarios in software development recognized as requiring effective knowledge transfer in order to achieve successful results: * Porting: A Porting project is an effort to enable a program to run on a different hardware or software platform. To port an application, you need to rewrite sections that are machine dependent, and then recompile the program on the new computer. The resultant code is then tested, often by some type of compliance suite, to insure that the ported product is operationally equivalent to the original product. When there is a market or business need, software products may be "ported" to new hardware/software platforms. A new team, with expertise in the new platform architecture, is usually called upon to do the porting. In order to optimize the port, knowledge from the original development team must be effectively transferred to the new organization. Service Transfer (maintenance) - Similar to the above, an software development organization will often transfer or assign responsibility for product service/maintenance to a separate service/support team. The ability to insure high-quality customer support requires a successful transfer of knowledge from the development group to the service/support group. This thesis provides a comprehensive framework for assessing a software development organization's knowledge transfer efforts and requirements. The framework presents a balanced approach introducing three columns of support for knowledge management activities in a software development organization. The three columns of support for knowledge transfer are: * Organizational Structures * Operational Process and Procedures * Technical Expertise and Infrastructure Using the three columns of software support as an analytical tool provides a holistic, end to end view of an organization's support for knowledge transfer. / by John P. Woods. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-132). / by Keith J. Britton and Dawn M. Schaible. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2003. / At head of title: Executive summary. Vita. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 195-196). / by Daryl R. Hemingway. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-91). / by Jonathan K. Niemeyer. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-114). / by Johannes Hartick. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-71). / by Nicholas D. Kefalas. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2009. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 90-96). / The development of emerging grid scale energy storage technologies offers great potential to improve the architecture and operation of the electrical grid. This is especially important in the face of increased reliance on clean, dependable electricity and with the influx of renewable generation and smart grid technology. However, at the present, grid scale energy storage is still in an early, developing stage. This document brings together a broad overview of the sector, including rough revenue estimates for each individually possible application for energy storage, a high level overview including rough cost estimates of each technology and supplier, a more focused look at the actual or possible implementations in the market with rough estimates of the systems' economics in each implementation. Following this is a discussion of notable dynamics and potentially effective strategies, based on current industry conditions and existing academic management frameworks. The investigation was accomplished by leveraging prior research in existing literature, and extending it with first hand discussions with industry leaders and market analysis. It was found that the economics of wholesale load shifting are unattractive for any of the emerging energy storage technologies, but that all of the other higher value implementations considered could be reasonably expected to at least break even financially given proper circumstances and the use of an energy storage technology which suits the implementation well. It was found that lithium ion and zinc-bromine flow batteries are well positioned for near term economically beneficial deployment on the grid. / (cont.) Many other technologies exist and are being developed to address these same markets, but are unlikely to be cost effective in the near term. It was also found that government regulation has played and will continue to play a major role in the deployment of energy storage on the grid. / by John Kluza. / S.M.in Engineering and Management