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M.Ing. / This case study explores the different technology management techniques available to organisations to control and manipulate technology to improve efficiency, reliability, optimisation and productivity. The technology techniques explored in this case study include technology roadmaps, technology capability analysis and technology portfolio analysis. The theoretical framework section of this case study provides an in depth study on the different techniques and presents supporting information that must be understood to correctly and efficiently implement these techniques. The analysis section of this case study presents results to authenticate the research captured in the theoretical section. The analysis section and the conclusion of this case study provide results and benefits of implementing technology management techniques within business units of Sasol. Sasol consists of a number of different technologies with different lifecycles which are required to be controlled and maintained to ensure continuous operation. Sasol is dependent on technology for safety, continuous operation and maintenance. The outcome of this case study is to provide an organisation such as Sasol the benefits and results of implementing technology management techniques within the organisation and to justify investing in technology management tools and techniques. The technology roadmap and technology portfolio analysis was carried out for the Solvents business unit whereas the technology capability analysis was carried out for Sasol Technology control engineering group.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce. November 1995. / The provision of timely, accurate, and relevant information to executives is prime to ensuring that they make quick and informed decisions that are critical to the competitiveness of their organisations. One such source of information is meant to be the Executive Information System, a system which combines internal and external information for electronic presentation to management in individually customised formats. Whilst it is required that the system address the information needs of the executives, the dynamic and ever-changing business environment makes it difficult for such a system to keep up-to-date. The aim of the research is to identify those critical issues, which when managed properly, will ensure that the system remains providing and meeting the needs of the executives. Ten interviews were conducted from business organisations in order identify these factors. The report consists of chapter one which gives a brief background of the research; chapter two is the review of the available literature which covers the origin, purpose and structure of EIS, criteria for successful implementation, benefits and issues related to the management of an operating EIS; chapter three describes the research methodology used to undertake this research; chapter four describes the data collection phase of the research; chapter five is the analysis and testing of the empirical generalisations ending with a list of critical success factors for managing an operating EIS; and chapter six, which is also the last, which highlights the limitations of the research and areas for further research. After analysing the interview transcripts from the semi-structured interviews using the content analysis method, it was concluded that the empirical generalisations were strongly supported. A list of ten critical success factors raised by the respondents is listed at the end of chapter five. This factors will contribute towards helping South African business organisations in the management of their operating Executive Information Systems investments. / AC2017

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references. / Designing a flexible system with real options is a method for managing uncertainty. This research introduces the concept of "complex" real options, which are composed of interconnected echnological, organizational and process components. "Complex" real options differ from the "standard" real options described in the literature in the option life-cycle activities of design, evaluation and management. To address the challenges posed by "complex" real options, the Life-Cycle Flexibility (LCF) Framework was created. The framework addresses issues along the entire life-cycle of an option, in both technical and social system dimensions. Two case studies were considered in this research to better understand "complex" real options and test the LCF Framework: 1) a large blended wing body aircraft in a commercial aircraft manufacturing enterprise and, 2) Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) capabilities in an urban region with multiple public and private stakeholders. For the case studies, both a quantitative and qualitative analysis was completed. System dynamics and traffic demand models were used to quantitatively evaluate flexibility for each case study. Forty interviews with practitioners were conducted to better understand the practical challenges associated with flexible systems. / (cont.) This research found that there are significant differences between "standard" and "complex" real options. In the design phase, enterprise architecture issues must be considered either as a precursor or simultaneously with the design of the option. In the evaluation stage, option valuation techniques more sophisticated than those found in the real options literature were needed to value the "complex" real options. In the management stage, political considerations were of great importance as political opposition could prevent option exercise from occurring. Without the LCF framework, existing processes for evaluating real options are not adequate for taking into account the interacting technical, organizational and process components of 'complex" real options. In summary, this research provides new insights into the design, evaluation and management of "complex" real options. / by Joshua Bryan McConnell. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-216). / This dissertation addresses the issue of performance standards in developing nations, focusing on the role of local content requirements. It proposes a theoretical framework to understand the impact of this policy on the decisions of firms and the welfare of the domestic economy, and offers a methodology to apply the analysis to the context of the automotive supply chain. The central conclusion of the thesis relates to the existence of a gap between private and social opportunity returns and costs, an aspect that has been overlooked by previous literature. In a developing country, resources employed by foreign investors and their local suppliers often generate spillovers and learning effects that are not accounted for in the valuations of private economic agents. This creates an externality-from-entry, whereby positive economic effects of new domestic suppliers are overlooked in the sourcing decision of the foreign firm. This dissertation proposes a model to illustrate how this gap between social and private valuations justifies the enactment of domestic content requirements, which become welfare enhancing. The analysis also reveals that content requirements are a preferable policy to tariffs and subsidies as a means to increase domestic purchases and discusses the use of subsidies and requirements as incentive mechanisms to align firm decisions with government objectives. A case study of the automotive industry, where content restriction policies are extremely active, is used to demonstrate the applicability of the model. This entailed the development of a new methodology, called Systems Cost Modeling (SCM), which uses simple metrics and rules to build bottom-up cost structures where estimates for large number of components have to be considered. Detailed empirical data from a particular car is then used to build a sourcing cost structure. / (cont.) These costs are integrated with the domestic content model to show how, for existing market and policy conditions; there can be value to the enactment of modest levels of domestic content requirements in the auto industry. It also explains that the impact of the policy is very sensitive to project characteristics and that this should be factored into national decisions. / by Francisco Veloso. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, February 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-239). / Technology plays an important role in dealing with air pollution and other environmental problems faced by developing and developed societies. This research examines if technological solutions alone, such as end-of-pipe and process control technologies, can achieve substantial and sustained emissions reduction from the industrial sector in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA). Environmental standards for most of the criteria pollutants have frequently been violated in the MCMA. Severe air pollution in the MCMA, and the roles of point and area sources, particularly industrial sector, are the prime motivating factors for this research. Industrial sources of air pollution play a significant role in aggravating the air pollution problem in the MCMA. This research focuses on a 25-year horizon for socio-economic growth of the MCMA, and its implications on industrial energy demand, and pollutant emissions. I develop a simulation model to estimate industrial energy demand and emissions from the MCMA industrial sector. The model incorporates industrial growth rate, changes in the structure of industry and energy intensity, pollution control technologies, fuel-switching, technological progress, etc. I find that the level of industrial activity, driven by the macroeconomic environment, plays a significant role in shaping the long-term industrial air-pollution trajectory in the MCMA. I use two cost measures for evaluating cost-effectiveness of various strategies. First, the direct cost, which includes capital, operation & maintenance cost. Second, the policy cost includes direct cost and the cost of foregone production due to policy of deindustrialization. / (cont.) Performance of a strategy is highly dependent on which measure of cost is chosen for the decision-making process. The abatement strategies which look attractive when only capital cost of the control technologies and investment in renewal of the production stock is considered, are no longer preferred when the policy cost is used. When only direct cost is considered, deindustrialization dominates the list of cost- effective options. However, when total policy cost of options is considered, reducing the structure adjusted energy intensity (SAEI) emerges as most dominant option. Further, I use a sectoral abatement approach to look at.the cost-effectiveness and estimate the potential cost savings from market-based regulatory instruments in achieving emission reductions. I find that the savings from using flexible, market-based mechanisms are large enough to warrant a serious consideration in environmental policymaking to achieve air-pollution abatement goals. On basis of the scenario analysis, I conclude that technology options alone are not sufficient to meet the industrial air pollution abatement goals in the MCMA. However, an aggressive implementation of technology and policy options can result in achieving sustained and substantial emissions reduction. The structural shift from high energy intensity industries to low energy intensity industries, and deindustrialization, moving the industrial activity away from the MCMA, should form an integral part of the policy making process. The current institutional framework in the MCMA to manage the environment is not geared to integrate the technology and policy options. / (cont.) A paradigm shift -- from environmental policymaking for industrial sector to industrial-environmental policymaking -- is needed for attaining substantial and sustained emissions reduction, so that policy options such as deindustrialization and structural shift can be incorporated in the environmental policy making for the industrial sector. / by Samudra Vijay. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 231-240). / The debate over a policy response to global climate change has been and continues to be deadlocked between 1) the view that the impacts of climate change are too uncertain and so any policy response should be delayed until we learn more, and 2) the view that we cannot wait to resolve the uncertainty because climate change is irreversible so we must take precautionary measures now. The objective of this dissertation is to sort out the role of waiting for better information in choosing an appropriate level of emissions abatement activities today under uncertainty. In this dissertation, we construct two-period sequential decision models to represent the choice of a level of emissions abatement over the next decade and another choice for the remainder of this century, both empirical models based on a climate model of intermediate complexity, and analytical dynamic programming models. Using the analytical models, we will show that for learning to have an influence on the decision before the learning occurs, an interaction must be present between strategies in the two decision periods. We define an "interaction" as the dependence of the marginal cost or marginal damage of the future decision on today's decision. When an interaction is present and is uncertain, the ability to learn will introduce a bias in the optimal first period strategy, relative to the optimal strategy if the uncertainty would never be reduced. In general, the bias from learning can be either in the direction of higher or lower emissions, depending on the sign of the interaction and the probability distribution over damage losses relative to abatement costs. / (cont.) We demonstrate using the empirical climate decision models that the difference between optimal emissions abatement today with and without learning is insignificant. The reason is that the IGSM, like most other climate assessment models, omit many of the most important interactions between emissions today and marginal costs or damages in the future. We show that by representing possible interactions, such as induced innovation from policy constraint or the effect of emissions growth on ocean circulation, that learning will have an influence on today's decision, often in the direction of lower emissions if we expect to learn. In general, the "wait-to- learn" is not necessarily a valid argument for delaying a climate policy that constrains emissions. / by Mort David Webster. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2007. / 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 255-265). / The evolution of the architecture of long-lived complex socio-technical systems have important consequences and can happen in unexpected ways. This dissertation explores this question through the study of the architectural evolution of Municipal Electric Utilities (MEUs) and their diversification into broadband services in the United States. Our research seeks answers to questions of process (why and how did this happen?), impact (what was the economic effect of this evolution?), theory (what is the phenomenon that explains this evolution?) and method (how can we study such changes?). The number of MEUs offering broadband services increased by more than 200% between 2000 and 2005, which made MEUs one of the most important providers of fiber-based broadband services in the nation. As a result, the entry of MEUs into broadband became a heavily debated policy issue at local, state, and national levels, and many laws were proposed for restricting or broadening their role in broadband. Our research provides the first evidence about the economic impact of this phenomenon for better-informed policy making. The analysis of the architectural evolution of MEUs required appropriate methods. / (cont.) We integrated the Representation Stage of the Complex Large Interconnected Open Socio-Technical (CLIOS) Process and Object Process Methodology (OPM) under a framework for system architecture analysis, and developed the CLIOS-OPM Integrated Representation Method (COIReM). COIReM' objective is to study the architectural evolution of socio-technical systems. We applied it to the evolution of MEUs using data from case study research, documentation, field research and interviews. We find that the evolution of MEUs and their entry into broadband services resulted from a process we define as Functional Emergence (FE): the process by which a new externally delivered function emerges triggered by the combined effect of technical and contextual changes affecting internal functions of a complex socio-technical system. The diversification of MEUs into broadband shows that small technological changes related to the internal functions of the system in the presence of regulatory and organizational adaptation, can stimulate the emergence of new externally delivered functions. Especially in organizations with high absorptive capacity and dynamic capabilities, these new functions can become sources of strategic diversification. The inability to understand these dynamics can create dramatic competitive disadvantages. / (cont.) For example, in this case technical changes created significant resources that, while not being perceived as valuable by the system itself, were greatly valued and demanded by an active local customer base. The impact of this evolution was studied quantitatively using Matched Sample Estimators. Results showed that: (i) the adoption of IP-enabled services had a positive impact on the internal efficiency of MEUs, (ii) there is no evidence to support the contention advanced in some policy discussions that MEUs are subsidizing their broadband business with funds from their electric power operations, and (iii) MEUbased broadband is associated with higher growth rates in the number of local business establishments, even after adjusting for the presence of private broadband providers. These qualitative and quantitative results have important implications for policy making. We argue that the entry of MEU into broadband owes more to their nature as an electric utility than as a municipal agency. We suggest that, as result of the economies of scope between electric power and broadband services, MEUs represent a case of sustainable broadband facilities-based providers and that, given the effects in internal efficiency and local economic development, they should be exempted from state legislation preventing local governments from offering telecommunication services. / (cont.) This research makes four main contributions. First, it uncovers a new behavior of complex technological systems: small technological and contextual changes affecting internal components and functions can produce the emergence of new external functions. Second, we propose a new framework to study the architectural evolution of socio-technical systems. Third, it provided evidence that, in the case of MEUs, this behavior is observable and measurable. Finally, the thesis provides a framework with which to formulate intervening policy measures. / by Carlos Alberto Osorio-Urzúa. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-168). / A change in government policy can send waves of crippling impacts through the design and development of publicly funded complex engineering systems. Thus it is important for system architects and designers to understand the interaction of policy with their systems, and to strive for policy robustness in their systems. To be policy robust is to successfully pass through policy changes that might arise during the course of system development in order to bring the system into operational use. The goal of this thesis research is to enable the creation of policy robust system architectures and designs through making policy an active consideration in the engineering systems architecting and design process. Qualitative and quantitative analysis methods are brought to bear on the problem using space systems as the application domain, and a process is set down through which policy can become an active consideration instead of a static constraint. Unique contributions of this thesis in the qualitative analysis of policy robust systems include new heuristics describing the interaction of policy and publicly funded engineering systems, as well as impact flow path diagrams for tracing policy interactions with technical engineering system parameters. Quantitative contributions include general relationships for the behavior of engineering system architecture sets under downward annual budget policy pressure, and the application of real options to measure the value of designing an engineering system to be policy robust to budget policy instabilities. Lastly, this research presents the first comprehensive quantification of U.S. space launch policy economic costs, and contributes relationships for estimating these costs on new space systems. / (cont.) The analysis techniques presented in this thesis for assessing and insuring policy robustness can be applied as early as the conceptualization phase of system architecting and design, and the earlier they are applied in the process, the greater the benefits that can be derived. As the architecture and system design solidify, time and opportunities are lost to tailor a system for policy robustness. / by Annalisa L. Weigel. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2007. / MIT Dewey Library copy: issued in leaves. / Also issued printed in leaves. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-206). / Studies suggest that timing and location of emissions can change the amount of ozone formed from a given amount of nitrogen oxide (NOx) by a factor of five (Mauzerall et al. 2005). Yet existing NOx cap-and-trade programs require stationary sources in the Eastern U.S. to reduce emissions without reference to timing or location. This work is part of a larger study on whether a NOx cap-and-trade program that differentiates across emissions by time and location could reduce ozone concentrations more cost-effectively than simple aggregate reductions in the NOx cap in the Eastern United States. To gauge possible gains relative to existing regulations, this work examines compliance data from coal power plants in 2002 and 2005 to estimate the effectiveness of existing un-differentiated regulations. It finds that some plant operators chose to remain under aggregated caps by emitting less NOx during early summer months when effects on ozone formation are low and emitting more NOx during late summer months when effects on ozone formation are great. This behavior was at once individually rational, environmentally damaging, and perfectly legal. To evaluate potential challenges to implementation, the study assesses the technical feasibility and the distributional effects of spatially and temporally differentiated regulatory systems. * Are power plants in the Eastern U.S. technically capable of reducing NOx emissions in response to incentives that changed in time and by location given network constraints? To address these questions, this work used a zonal model based on an abstract network graph and optimal power flow simulations to estimate potential short-term NOx reductions and associated costs from redispatch of power plants in the original Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland (PJM) power system. / (cont.) Both methods estimated that power plants could respond with hourly NOx reductions of between 15 and 30% and that network constraints had little effect. * Are the distributional effects of a differentiated regulation likely to motivate and/or enable legal challenges that could undercut such a program? The distributional effects of differentiated regulation would depend on the timing and locations of reductions, and legal challenges could constrain implementation. But the inability of un-differentiated regulations to fully solve ozone problems, combined with scientific and economic justifications, and the ability of power plants to respond, justify further inquiry into the feasibility of differentiation. / by Katherine C. Martin. / Ph.D.