Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 48-49). / A new type of solar cell technology using so-called thin-film solar photovoltaic material has the potential to make a great impact on our lives. Because it uses very little or no silicon at all, thin- film (TF) solar technology promises to reduce the cost of solar modules to a level where solar power could compete effectively with power generated from fossil fuel alternatives, thus accelerating our society's transition to distributed, renewable forms of energy sources. Furthermore, because thin-film solar PV materials can be applied to surfaces as varied as glass, plastic and flexible metal foils, this emerging technology could open up new range of applications that otherwise would not be possible using traditional solar cells. The scope of this thesis is to analyze the technical merits of the different thin-film solar technologies, their market and applications, and the dynamics of a growing, new industry. We will compare the different thin-film solar technologies against each other and against the dominant poly-silicon technology. Next, we will take a look at the make up of the thin-film industry and study the different technology strategies employed by players in this industry. We'll highlight a few manufacturers of each type of technology and present a snapshot of the industry in terms of current production and forecasted manufacturing capacity. We'll conclude with a technology outlook and recommend possible technology strategies for firms contemplating entering this industry. / by Sorin Grama. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-67). / Ever since the introduction of the Internet in 1994, one of the defining characteristics of the global economy, particularly in the US, is a dramatic increase in expenditures on Information Technology. While this trend is expected to continue, a major issue for companies of all sizes is the manner in which precise forecasting of future IT cost may be undertaken. The present thesis investigates the possibility that a set of the essential deterministic cost drivers with varying weighted factors may prove capable of estimating total IT infrastructure costs. An online questionnaire was developed for this purpose, and was used to survey senior IT leadership teams. The data collected from this survey was then computed with Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to illustrate the relative importance of different cost drivers. The study revealed three primary findings. First, that a set of essential deterministic cost drivers with varying weighted factors could be used as a general tool for estimating the total cost of IT infrastructure. Second, these different sectors prioritize cost drivers differently from each other. In the Financial Services sector, for instance, the security of the IT network was reported to be of greater importance than the service call response time. In the Technology sector, however, the opposite was true. Third, numerous correlations were found to exist within each cost driver category defined. The correlated nature of these cost parameters may mean that a more parsimonious model may be more predictive of total IT infrastructure costs. It is hoped that these findings may be of benefit to a variety of large and small commercial and government entities, which may be able to use the predictive cost drivers to help eliminate problems related to inaccurate IT cost estimates. / (cont.) It is believed that the cost model proposed may be applicable across a variety of economic sectors. In this thesis, its applicability is demonstrated within the 3 financial services and technology sectors. Future research may be useful in evaluating the model further, by increasing the sample size, and by testing the reliability and validity of the cost model within additional economic sectors. / by Ken Huang. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2009. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-81). / During the last decade and half, the hi-tech industry has seen a phenomenal pace of innovation fueled primarily by venture capital funded startups. In spite of the innovation pace, very few of these ventures have gone on to become successes that have created wealth for all the stake holders involved. The failure rate of early stage ventures is still very high. A maxim of the VC industry from the late 90's and 2000's is, for every 10 venture investments in a VC portfolio, two fail soon; five were walking dead and unless someone bought them out they would eventually die; two returned average returns and only one would go on to become the phenomenal success - an outlier like Google, Amazon, eBay or an YouTube, on which the entire portfolio return depends. The current approaches to evaluating these early stage venture plans are not very reliable. What we need is a new paradigm. To pursue any endeavor and achieve desired success repeatedly we need certainty, consistency and predictability - none of which exists in the hi-tech venture business. In order to get there, we need a shift in our current paradigms on evaluating hi-tech startup ideas. We need a new model that clearly explains the forces that the products from those ventures would be subject to and help us understand why things happen the way they do. It should help us clearly relate the effect with the actual cause. This would go a long way to help us make better decisions and would provide a start in introducing certainty, consistency and predictability in the business of hi-tech ventures. / (cont.) This would improve the rate of venture success. Early stage ventures would not be a game of chance anymore. This thesis puts forth a new framework drawn from multiple sources to help assess how a proposed early stage venture may perform with its intended strategy. The framework is then validated by applying it to a series of ventures - past and present, to check how it stands up. / by Bharath Thirunavukkarasu. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 42). / by Brad M. Boersen. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-134). / As the Army conducts transformation in the midst of an ongoing information driven Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) and the War on Terror, it has realized the need to develop leaner, more agile, versatile and deployable forces. As part of its latest transformation to Brigade "Units of Action," the Army realized the need to improve the "tooth to tail" ratio of its forces and transferred from a Cold War "Divisional" force structure to one focused around more deployable and sustainable Brigade Units of Action. Ironically, this transformation to what is suppose to become a more lean and deployable force structure has produced larger and more heavily staffed battalion, brigade and division command posts. Despite introduction of the Army Battle Command System (ABCS), a system of digital systems that are intended to help speed up the Army's ability to transfer information, improve situational awareness, make decisions, and out "OODA" (Observe-Orient-Decide-Act) its opponents, in many aspects the Army has actually taken a step backwards. The end result is that these larger command posts are becoming more hierarchical and bureaucratic, and are reducing the Army's ability to get ahead of the enemy's decision cycle. Platoon Leaders and Company Commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan constantly lament that "if they only had the information they needed 48 hours earlier," they could have captured the target. This study examines one small aspect of this tremendous problem, the architecture of the Battalion Tactical Operations Center (TOC). It analyzes the current information revolution, the contemporary operating environment, network centric warfare, other emerging Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) concepts, and the current Battalion TOC configuration and doctrine. It then applies System Dynamics techniques and develops a set of heuristics to address the problem. The ultimate goal of this study is to develop a practical concept for an improved organization, structure and function of the command post. / by Nathan A. Minami. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-117). / by Rudolf Marcel Smaling. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 45-46). / by Sandra M. Crobett Kramm. / 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. 87-88). / Designing and managing the supply chain of a company in the mobile phone industry is particularly challenging. Short product lifecycles, rapidly evolving technology, globally linked distribution networks, increasing product variability and high levels of demand and supply uncertainty all create problems for those managing these supply chains. As competition in this industry increases and profit margins decrease, proper supply chain management practices will only become more important to companies competing in this industry. In order to succeed, companies must implement their supply chain so that it effectively supports their corporate strategy. This thesis investigates the relationship between corporate strategy and supply chain strategy within the mobile phone industry. Although it is directed at one industry, the wide variety of products in terms of price and functionality suggests that there isn't a "one size fits all" supply chain strategy appropriate for all companies that produce mobile phones. An extensive survey was developed that asks participants strategic, tactical and operational questions about different aspects of supply chains that deliver mobile phones. This is used to identify areas in which the stated supply chain strategy impacts the design and operation of the supply chain. Finally, differences in supply chain practices between high and low performers are identified based on supply chain strategy. / by Robert Scanlon. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008. / MIT Barker Engineering and Dewey Library copies: Printed in pages. / Issued also printed in pages. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 137-139). / There is much enthusiastic debate on the topic of generation gaps in the workplace today; what the generational differences are, how to address the apparent challenges, and if the generations themselves are even real. Despite the frenzy, however, there has been relatively limited empirical research performed on this issue; in particular, no empirical research in the context of an engineering organization seems to have been performed. With that in mind, the main intent of the thesis is to determine the existence of generational differences among engineers in a large, technical organization, and discuss the potential implications of the findings. Extensive literature research and analysis identified communication techniques, leadership preferences, learning styles, and work motivation to be the key hypothesized differences most pertinent to an engineering organization. A questionnaire was put together based on these differences and distributed to a sample that consisted of approximately eighty members from each of the four generations: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation Xers, Millennials. In general, data analysis revealed that engineers do not exhibit generation gaps to the same extent as described in the literature. In fact, much of the data suggested contrary views, most notable of which was the importance of face-to-face communication, especially amongst the younger engineers. Knowledge transfer across generations remains a challenge, however, and possible approaches to addressing this issue are through physical accommodations, extensive mentorship programs, and salient investments in Information Technology (IT). / by David J. Kim. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. / In this thesis, we have developed an extensive study to evaluate image restoration from a single image, colored or monochromatic. Using a mixture of Gaussian and Poisson noise process, we derived an objective function to estimate the unknown object and point spread function (psf) parameters. We have found that, without constraint enforcement, this blind deconvolution algorithm tended to converge to the trivial solution: delta function as the estimated psf and the detected image as the estimated object. We were able to avoid this solution set by enforcing a priori knowledge about the characteristics of the solution, which included the constraints on object sharpness, energy conservation, impulse response point spread function solution, and object gradient statistics. Applying theses constraints resulted in significantly improved solutions, as evaluated visually and quantitatively using the distance of the estimated to the true function. We have found that the distance of the estimated psf was correlated better with visual observation than the distance metric using the estimated object. Further research needs to be done in this area. To better pose the problem, we expressed the point spread function as a series of Gaussian basis functions, instead of the pixel basis function formalism used above. This procedure has reduced the dimensionality of the parameter space and has resulted in improved results, as expected. We determined a set of weights that yielded optimum algorithm performance. / (cont.) Additional research needs to be done to include the weight set as optimization parameters. This will free the user from having to adjust the weights manually. Of course, if certain knowledge of a weight is available, then it may be better to start with that as an initial guess and optimize from there. With the knowledge that the gradient of the object obeys long-tailed distribution, we have incorporated a constraint using the first two moments, mean and variance, of the gradient of the object in the objective function. Additional research should be done to incorporate the entire distribution in the objective and gradient functions and evaluate the performance. / by Jean J. Dolne. / S.M.