Dimensional stability of tufted carpets has been a continuing problem in the industry for years. When a tufted carpet is installed by the stretch method, it experiences stress relaxation over time which can cause the carpet to buckle, wrinkle and become loose with the only option being a costly re-stretching of the carpet. Since woven carpets seldom require re-stretching, the carpet buckling problem seems to be linked primarily to the tufted construction. This research seeks to analyze the various components of the tufted carpet composite structure and identify the role each component plays in the phenomenon of stress relaxation. Since a carpet is always stretched in both dimensions simultaneously during installation, understanding its biaxial stress decay is important. To this end, a biaxial loading system has been used to test various samples of the primary backing alone (before tufting), primary backing after tufting (with tufts), the secondary backing alone, and the finished carpet after attaching the backings with various binder weights per area. The four variables under consideration include: primary and secondary backing constructions, tufting density, and latex weight, with the secondary backing and latex weight expected to have the greatest effects on stress decay. In order to collect the most information, the biaxial test system was connected to a computer-based data acquisition system to continuously monitor stress levels and generate stress relaxation curves over a 20-hour testing period. A viscoelastic model that included representations of each component in the carpet structure was used to analyze and understand the influence of the components on the stress relaxation of carpets.

<p>The apparel design process involves gathering and analyzing information on fashion trends, markets, past line sales and editing ideas for successful combinations of fabric, style and price. These ideas are the result of creativity. Creativity is most often modeled as a problem solving process involving complex chaotic systems. In the fields of architecture and software design, pattern languages have been developed to help understand the various fundamental components and dynamics of complex systems by using a series of related generic problem-solving patterns empirically proven to be successful in a specified context of forces. Patterns record existing knowledge to make it rapidly and easily accessible and communicated between different users. The research objective of this dissertation was to develop a pattern language describing the initial creative phase of the apparel design process. First, an archetype of the initial creative process in apparel design was constructed based on the literature reviewed to integrate the intervening marketing and design components, and suggest a set of links between these components and the various stages of the process. Second, patterns describing these links and the archetype were developed to form a pattern language representing the dynamics of the archetypal model, i.e. the articulation and interdependencies of all its components and stages. Design professionals reviewed the pattern language. Students used it to develop product concepts and storyboards, which were evaluated by a panel of judges. Feedback from these participants indicates the pattern language offers a "design manual" that can be used by all team members to improve design efficiency and effectiveness, i.e. higher success rates of new products in a timely manner. Combining information technology and the pattern language could make an even greater contribution to apparel design, both at an operational level and a strategic planning level. This research provides a working example of a pattern language and shows the benefits to be attained. Also, the dissertation includes a guide on constructing pattern languages in the hope of reaching the ultimate goal of encouraging industry and academic apparel design experts to contribute to the necessary ongoing developments of the pattern language. <P>

<p>The purpose of this research has been to examine possible factors which effect yarn production and prices in the U.S.The research approach first involved gathering the data from different sources about yarn production and prices. Second, data was gathered about the different factors which could have an effect on these. These factors included enduse demand, cotton consumption, the effect of spinning systems, labor cost and demand, machinery hours and shipments, and the level of imports and exports. Third, the data was compared and conclusions were made based solely on the obvious trends in the data. Fourth, current situations in the textile market were examined in order to conclude if any have had an effect on yarn production and price. The main issues which are facing the textile industry and were included in this analysis were NAFTA, CBI, Asia and the WTO. The effect that these have had and will have on the spinning industry was examined in detail. Fifth, a statistical analysis was conducted. The analysis included the use of a correlation matrix for both yarn production levels and yarn prices in order to see which factors statistically had the strongest impact on these. Overall, this research offers a view into the inside of the U.S. spinning industry, including the dynamics which effect final yarn production levels and yarn prices, as well as situations which will have an impact on the future of the spinning industry.<P>

<p>LEE, EUN-KYUNG. Creation of Casual Index Based on Habit Stocks and General Social Behaviors. (Under the direction of Dr. Moon W. Suh and Dr. William Oxenham.)A fashion preference indicator called "Casual Index" was created to signify and measure the degree of casualness at any given time point by using various statistical and econometrics models. The indices were created based on two approaches; one for theoretically constructed and the other for practical application. The theory-based Casual Index is a composite index formulated from two sub-indices that were derived from the general social behaviors and apparel demand patterns of contemporary Americans. The consumption-based Casual Index is also a composite index aimed at practical application, derived from consumption data on certain apparel items. In addition, the Total Casual Index was created by combining the consumption-based Casual Indices of men and women based on unit volumes of apparel consumption. In deriving the various casual indices, the General Social Survey data from National Opinion Research Center (University of Chicago) and the Current Industrial Report MQ23A of U.S. Bureau of Census from 1972 through 1998 were applied. For the first time, the behavioral patterns of the society and the habit formation by consumers were combined in creating and successfully validating theoretically formulated Casual Index. The statistical methods applied were proven to be highly effective. The consumption-based Casual Index was shown to be most useful for practical applications as well as for forecasting for the future casual trends. Although somewhat subjective in the formulation, the newly created Total Casual Index is expected to enhance its utility in the absence of complex data and mathematical models. The casual indices derived for both men and women suggest that the casual trends have shifted dynamically during the last three decades. Based on the Total Casual Index, the 1998 figure (75.7) is shown to be higher than that of 1972 (63.7). <P>

Thesis (M.S. in Information Technology Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2010. / Thesis Advisor(s): Cook, Glenn. Second Reader: Housel Thomas J. "March 2010." Description based on title screen as viewed on April 26, 2010. Author(s) subject terms: Information Technology, IT, IT Strategy, Strategy, Management, IT Management. Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-86). Also available in print.

Abstract In an increasingly complex economic and social environment, high technology companies are facing accelerating technological development and global technology-based competition. Due to the critical role of technology in a competitive environment, strategic technology management is important for enterprises. For the long-term success, companies must develop and sustain their technological capabilities to create internal and external impacts within an ambiguous socio-economic context. In the absence of commonly agreed frameworks, elements of strategic technology management are discovered in this dissertation. The research is conducted in the context of high technology product companies, to develop a framework based on literature findings, and by obtaining qualitative information on enterprise practices. For the framework development, integrated management theory is applied to consider technology management in strategic dimension. The framework consists of structures, objectives and impacts categories, each having six main elements which contain several sub-classes. In the research, perceptions of enterprise practitioners indicated that the entire field of strategic technology management is confusing and diversely practiced. The contribution of this dissertation is benefiting practitioners by providing an outline to assist in defining and developing the practices. For the main theoretical contribution, the framework unites strategic management, organizational management, and technology management concepts in enterprise context. As a practical implication, it is suggested that companies should consider establishing and integrating strategic technology management as a distinguishing managerial discipline amongst other organizational functions. Enterprises should consider defining and developing the necessary structures and objectives for strategic technology management, to proactively manage impacts of technology for competitiveness of the enterprise, and for sustainable development of its socio-economic environment. In conclusion, the framework provides for scholars and practitioners a logical structure to elements of strategic technology management.

Information is a critical asset without which an organisation could not survive. The adequate and effective governance of this asset is an essential function and is the direct responsibility of the board and senior management. The board and senior management have a responsibility to maintain the financial and material health of their enterprise and this includes setting the proper direction and governance of the information asset. Many organisations have, over the past few years, suffered severe losses and failures due to the inadequate governance and protection of this valuable asset. The reasons for the lack of corporate information governance need to be examined. The board and senior management need to direct and control their organisations effectively, with the appropriate delegation of responsibilities, to reduce the possibility of suffering similar losses and/or failures. The contribution made by this study is illustrated in the designing of a framework and activity plans to facilitate the board in practically implementing an improved corporate information governance process.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references. / Environmental regulations are typically portrayed as an outside force stimulating development of environmental technologies in regulated industries. In reality, firms influence regulation by communicating their technological progress, which helps form a basis for future standards. Because of differences in each firm's technological capability and environmental performance, regulations affect the competitive position of firms. Firms with advanced technologies stand to gain competitive benefit from more stringent environmental regulations, and may therefore choose to introduce a more costly but cleaner technology ahead of regulation. Such a competitive regulatory strategy has the potential to bring competitive benefits to the lead firm(s) and environmental benefits to the public. This research explains the conditions under which competitive regulatory strategies are pursued in the diesel vehicle and fuel industry. Growing public concern about the health effects of diesel exhaust has led countries to implement several cycles of increasingly stringent emission and fuel regulations over the past two decades. / (cont.) Taking a comparative case study approach, this work studies multiple regulatory cycles for light-duty vehicles, heavy-duty engines, and diesel fuel sulfur in the European Union, Japan, and the United States. For each region's regulatory cycles, cases of corporate behavior, including early adoption, first-mover behavior, and noncompliance, are identified and analyzed for their context, motivation, influence on regulatory policy, and public and private effects. Source material consists of documentary sources, descriptive statistics, and semi-structured interviews with experts. This methodology generates multiple cases for comparison across countries, cycles, sectors, and firms. While early- and first-mover behavior was observed in the regulatory cycles, firms do not aggressively pursue competitive regulatory strategies. They are guided by other motivations, such as fiscal incentives, diesel market share protection, and technology development/testing. A weak business case, risk aversion, industry pressure, and lack of supporting infrastructure pose strong disincentives. / (cont.) The final recommendations address issues pertinent to regulators, firms, and environmental groups: fiscal incentives as an effective means to encourage rapid technology adoption; environmental NGOs as a vehicle for communicating technological progress; use of technology demonstrations by lead firms to show regulatory readiness; and combination of short-term and long-term targets with mechanisms to encourage technology-based competition. / by Christine Bik-Kay Ng. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 306-322). / The research contained in this thesis explores leading indicators of lean enterprise transformation in the aerospace industry, as part of the greater body of work associated with MIT's Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI). Arguments from literature are made in support of the assumption that a lean enterprise can outperform a less lean enterprise, permitting the research to focus on identifying potential means for achieving and accelerating lean enterprise transformation in the aerospace industry. Senior enterprise leaders and their leadership committees from thirty-one enterprises in the US and UK aerospace industry utilized the LAI Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (LESAT) as a means for measuring their current state of leanness in leadership/transformation processes, lifecycle processes, and enabling infrastructure. Cross-sectional LESAT data, two-period time series LESAT data, and directed interviews and site visits were utilized to formulate the conclusions drawn in this thesis. There are four primary empirical findings of this research. First, the aerospace industry as a whole exhibits lowest maturity in practices related to establishing and deploying a lean enterprise vision, even in the presence of high maturity in lean production. Second, enterprises exhibiting high lean enterprise maturity in leadership/transformation processes also exhibit high maturity in lifecycle processes and enabling infrastructure. Third, strong leadership commitment (LC) correlates highly with setting a lean enterprise change environment (CE), which then correlates highly with lean change activities in practice (CP). / (cont.) Finally, there is evidence that the highest lean maturity enterprises have established formal information feedback mechanisms that allow the enterprise to strategically build on the lean capabilities of the enterprise, while prioritizing lean improvement activities within the context of enterprise strategic needs. From the perspective of industry, this research suggests that there must be a formal decision to pursue the lean enterprise as an operational strategy in order to achieve successful transformation. This decision will be founded on strong leadership commitment, which if established, can help support the leadership/transformation practices as a means for improving lifecycle processes and enabling infrastructure. The LAI Transition-to-Lean (TTL) roadmap provides a logical sequencing of lean enterprise transformation activities, to which formal information feedback mechanisms should be added based on the model proposed in this thesis for accelerating lean enterprise transformation. Most importantly, this model suggests a new mode of operating, not a one-time improvement effort. Further research is needed to empirically validate the model as a means for accelerating lean enterprise transformation. / by Cory R.A. Hallam. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, February 2006. / "September 2005." / Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-148). / The amount of electronically accessible information has been growing exponentially. How to effectively use this information has become a significant challenge. A post 9/11 study indicated that the deficiency of semantic interoperability technology hindered the ability to integrate information from disparate sources in a meaningful and timely fashion to allow for preventive precautions. Meanwhile, organizations that provided useful services by combining and reusing information from publicly accessible sources have been legally challenged. The Database Directive has been introduced in the European Union and six legislative proposals have been made in the U.S. to provide legal protection for non-copyrightable database contents, but the Directive and the proposals have differing and sometimes conflicting scope and strength, which creates legal uncertainty for valued-added data reuse practices. The need for clearer data reuse policy will become more acute as information integration technology improves to make integration much easier. This Thesis takes an interdisciplinary approach to addressing both the technology and the policy challenges, identified above, in the effective use and reuse of information from disparate sources. / (cont.) The technology component builds upon the existing Context Interchange (COIN) framework for large-scale semantic interoperability. We focus on the problem of temporal semantic heterogeneity where data sources and receivers make time-varying assumptions about data semantics. A collection of time-varying assumptions are called a temporal context. We extend the existing COIN representation formalism to explicitly represent temporal contexts, and the COIN reasoning mechanism to reconcile temporal semantic heterogeneity in the presence of semantic heterogeneity of time. We also perform a systematic and analytic evaluation of the flexibility and scalability of the COIN approach. Compared with several traditional approaches, the COIN approach has much greater flexibility and scalability. For the policy component, we develop an economic model that formalizes the policy instruments in one of the latest legislative proposals in the U.S. The model allows us to identify the circumstances under which legal protection for non-copyrightable content is needed, the different conditions, and the corresponding policy choices. / (cont.) Our analysis indicates that depending on the cost level of database creation, the degree of differentiation of the reuser database, and the efficiency of policy administration, the optimal policy choice can be protecting a legal monopoly, encouraging competition via compulsory licensing, discouraging voluntary licensing, or even allowing free riding. The results provide useful insights for the formulation of a socially beneficial database protection policy. / by Hongwei Zhu. / Ph.D.