Thesis: M.B.A., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2014. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 89-92). / Today, a broad and deep understanding of the concept of "culture" is one of the keys to understanding and solving the challenges of managing complex organizations. The Kirin Group, too, has been working on changing its organization culture. Specifically, after Kirin began to implement its globalization strategy in 2006, the organization culture challenge became one of the keystones to executing the new strategy. The Japanese alcohol market is shrinking so rapidly that Kirin recognizes it must expand its business beyond its home market and into overseas markets. Kirin aims to achieve sustainable growth through this globalization. To execute the 2006 business strategy, Kirin engaged in a number of mergers and acquisitions that brought cultural diversity into the Kirin organization. This expansion requires Kirin to understand and embrace a range of different cultures. Historically, Kirin has pursued organic growth and maintained a mono-culture organization. Even though Kirin understands the necessity of this organization culture change in order to align with its new strategy, Kirin is still moving along the road to culture change. It is a challenge. In this thesis, I explore the question of how to build organization culture in a decentralized, global company. I define culture and the concepts of culture analysis, then analyze Kirin Group's organization culture from the perspective of these concepts. I focus specifically on how Kirin operates in two different cultures: Japan and Brazil. Through my analysis, I found that Kirin is altering its approach to culture change as it learns from its own experiences in past efforts. However, Kirin also postponed solving some fundamental culture change challenges in order to mitigate the impact of organization change. I recommend that Kirin fully embrace diverse cultures and include them in the overall Kirin Group culture as part of its strategy of becoming a global company. / by Satoko Yoshida. / M.B.A.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2003. / Page 366 blank. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 355-365). / (cont.) significantly during an improvisation) and emergent artifacts (i.e., artifacts that are created and adapted during an improvisation). In addition, I find that there are three general uses of artifacts in improvising: tool (the use of an artifact to build an outcome), component (the use of an artifact as part of an outcome), and product (the use of an artifact as an outcome). Finally, these uses tend to involve two aspects of artifacts: practical (the use of an artifact for its functional capabilities) and symbolic (the use of an artifact for its representational capabilities). Artifacts, particularly emergent artifacts, were an integral part of enacting structures (the use of emergent artifacts as structural referents), assessing continuously (the use of emergent artifacts as products of the improvisation to solicit feedback and examine the progress, or lack thereof, of the collaborative endeavor), creating resourcefully (the re-use of emergent artifacts as components of the final product), and adapting extemporaneously (the use of artifacts as tools to adapt the emerging output). My research addresses calls for IS researchers to theorize more specifically about the nature and influence of IT artifacts and offers a framework to think about technology not simply as a stable tool that is used for practical purposes, but also as an artifact that can be stable or emergent, it can be used as a product, component, or tool, and it is used for both practical and symbolic aspects. / What are the roles of technology as groups of individuals innovate in work environments they describe as dynamic and unpredictable? In organizational studies, a growing number of researchers are using the framework of improvising to make sense of the processes of innovation and transformation in dynamic environments. The roles of technologies in improvising, however, have not been well articulated in this literature. My dissertation research addresses two general questions: What core activities constitute improvising? and What are the roles of technology in improvising? I ground my work in two practice-based theoretical frameworks, structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) and an extension of structuration theory, technologies-in-practice (Orlikowski, 2000). Drawing on a growing literature on improvising in organizations and accounts of improvising in African American quiltmaking, I develop a framework describing the activities that constitute improvising and the different kinds, roles, and aspects of technological artifacts in improvising. I then apply this framework to examine the findings of field research I conducted into the work practices of two groups: a team of chemists developing new formulas for personal care products, and a management team developing a funding pitch and prototype web service during the initial stages of their small Internet-based start-up business. I define improvising as a structured process of innovation that involves responding to changing situation(s) with resources at hand by creating a production and adapting it continuously. Overall, I find that two kinds of artifacts are significant to improvising: stable artifacts (i.e., artifacts that do not change / by Nils Olaya Fonstad. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 105). / Information technology has been a dominating tool in many industries. Computer sales in home segment accounts for 33% 1 Although Personal Computers are becoming more and more popular, home information management is relatively limited. According to the U.S. Bureau of Census, there were 22.8% of household have personal computer in 1993. By the linear interpolation of 1984, 1989, and 1993 data, PC penetration in US household should be 37% or higher by year 2002 However, the 1998 survey conducted by NIT A of Department of Commerce revealed that the household PC penetration has reached 36.6% in 1997. Bill Gates predicted that PC penetration at household will reach 60% in year 2001. The high penetration rate of PCs in the household did not reflect the success of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) type of integrated solution for the home IT applications. According to Forrester Research, "The basic windows metaphor is over 25 years old, and Microsoft is failing to advance the user interface. Vendors like Apple, MetaCreations, or America Online have the opportunity to graft distinct and consumer-focused interfaces on top of Windows" [Forrester Research, 1999]. As the PC platform reaching its maturity as stable processors and operating systems, there is a slow down in PC related technology innovation. In home informatics, we believe that there are three important issues related to the diffusion of family information management: 1. Home PC network. 2. Home automation. 3. Family oriented user interface This study will investigate what hindrance the development of home informatics, particularly in family information management. The focus has been placed on the user interface applications. A new concept for PC user interface, Homesoft, is proposed with a prototype demonstration. With this new interface, PC manufacturers and Internet portal service providers can utilize this concept to develop a more user-friendly system for American families. Homesoft will provide an integrated solution for domestic applications just like the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for enterprises. This proposed concept will include technical specifications for hardware (Electronic pen and tablet), Software (event planning, communication, time management, and information support systems), and their interfaces (simple and family-oriented). In addition to the technical concept, the market research and financial plan with feasibility analysis are the essences for this research study. The business plan for Homesoft is created as an exercise for taking a software concept into a business development project. / by Francisco Armanet [and] Ching-li Jimmy Wong. / M.B.A.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-262). / Entering the 21st Century, after almost 30 years development of the Chinese economy, several famous Chinese firms have grown to a significant scale and achieved the rudiments of world-class corporations. Following Japanese and Korean corporations, several firms began their globalization and expansion: Lenovo, Haier, Huawei, and TCL. During the short period of Chinese corporations' globalization, however, they have faced various kinds of difficulties and challenges. Starting from case analyses of eight major electronics corporations (including Philips, Motorola, Toshiba, LG, Acer, Lenovo, Huawei, and TCL, corporations in Europe, USA, Japan, Korea, Taiwan of China and mainland China), the thesis expounds the course of their growth from a historical perspective. It uses the approach of comparison, conclusion and deduction to seek common elements of their success and the common issues faced in their development. The case studies are the principal factual basis of the discussion in the thesis. The main text starts from consideration of organizational and cultural innovation and discusses the forms, evolution, and innovation in organizational development. / (cont.) At the same time, I analyze the differences in typical methodology, system, and culture resulting from the differences in national culture in America, Japan, and China. Based on the characteristics of Chinese "Small Groupism" culture, I propose that a solution for Chinese organizational management and cultural innovation is to establish the "Rigid Frame and Flexible Organism," in other words to establish management and cultural bureaucratic organization. In Chapter III, from the perspective of practical application, I explain the methods of diagnosing organizational culture and how effectively to advance innovation in organizational culture. Hereafter, based on the trend and scale analysis of the eight corporations, I draw conclusions as to the common elements in their development as well as guidance for the development and globalization of Chinese electronic corporations. Based on the framework to establish the "Rigid Frame and Flexible Organism", I address in detail recommendations for Chinese firms. / by Zhongyao (Charls) Zhao. / S.M.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-131). / by Rebecca W. Hamilton. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 137-140). / by John M. Ireland. / M.B.A.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-98). / The concepts and techniques of internal marketing and employee satisfaction are becoming very popular in western companies, supported by accomplishments in service management based on of the Service-Profit Chain and organizational behavior. However, it is still uncommon for Japanese service companies to introduce these concepts, being strongly influenced by Japanese culture and tradition. This thesis first explains internal marketing and employee satisfaction through existing literature and actual examples of U.S. banks. It then examines current Japanese service companies and the reasons for their practice, considering cultural influence. Furthermore, recognizing the importance of companies in adopting these concepts in the near future, I indicate how this can be achieved using examples in Japan. / by Tsuyoshi Takeshita. / M.B.A.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 339-358). / by Christian Peter Erik Kampmann. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-104). / by Philip Vangjel Adams and Dorothy Kathryn Holmes. / M.S.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2007. / This thesis is a part of an exploration of how the relationships between the customers of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) shape customer experience, and can be used to diminish customer churn and improve customer life expectancy, two critical drivers for any subscription-based business model. MMOGs are a very complex product, with a massive level of interaction within the customer base - in fact those interactions constitute a significant part of the appeal. Thus, MMOGs combine aspects of particularly tough online community management, online customer service, and game design/content creation. To be successful, all of those elements need a fine understanding of the customer, their needs and their virtual 'life' and relationships within the game world. This thesis explores the usefulness of detailed, sophisticated interview to gain a fine understanding of customer needs and of the tools necessary to organize communication with, and among, customers. From this knowledge, it projects examples of strategic thrusts necessary to achieve or maintain leadership within this recent, but very powerful and lucrative, business model. / by Sébastien Andrivet. / M.B.A.