Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 285-291). / by Efthalia Chryssikou. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 229-240). / by Saul Avery Rubenstein. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references. / I examine how information technology (IT) skills and use, communication network structures, and the distribution and flow of information in organizations impact individual information worker productivity. The work is divided into three essays based on the task level practices of information workers at a midsize executive recruiting firm: Essay 1: "Information, Technology and Information Worker Productivity: Task Level Evidence." I develop and econometrically test a multistage model of production and interaction activities at the firm, and analyze correlations among network structure, characteristics of information flow and real economic output. I find that (a) IT use is positively correlated with non-linear drivers of productivity; (b) the structure and size of workers' communication networks are highly correlated with performance; (c) an inverted-U shaped relationship exists between multitasking and productivity such that, beyond an optimum, more multitasking is associated with declining project completion rates and revenue generation; and (d) asynchronous information seeking such as email and database use promotes multitasking while synchronous information seeking over the phone shows a negative correlation. These data demonstrate a strong correspondence among technology use, social networks, and productivity for project-based information workers. / (cont.) Essay 2: "Network Structure and Information Advantage: Structural Determinants of Access to Novel Information and their Performance Implications." I examine relationships between social network structure, information structure, and individual performance. I build and validate a Vector Space Model of information diversity, develop hypotheses linking two key aspects of network structure - size and diversity - to the distribution of novel information among actors, and test the theory using data on email communication patterns, message content and performance. Results indicate that access to diverse, novel information is related to network structure in non-linear ways, and that network diversity contributes to performance even when controlling for the positive performance effects of access to novel information, suggesting additional benefits to network diversity beyond those conferred through information advantage. / (cont.) Essay 3: "Organizational Information Dynamics: Drivers of Information Diffusion in Organizations." I examine drivers of the diffusion of different types of information through organizations by observing several thousand diffusion processes of two types of information -'event news' and 'discussion topics' - from their original first use to their varied recipients over time. I then test the effects of network structure and functional and demographic characteristics of dyadic relationships on the likelihood of receiving each type of information and receiving it sooner. Discussion topics exhibit more shallow diffusion characterized by 'back-and-forth' conversation and are more likely to diffuse vertically up and down the organizational hierarchy, across relationships with a prior working history, and across stronger ties; while news, characterized by a spike in communication and rapid, pervasive diffusion through the organization, is more likely to diffuse laterally as well as vertically, and without regard to the strength or function of relationships. The findings highlight the importance of simultaneous considerations of structure and content in information diffusion studies. / by Sinan Aral. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 168-179). / by Chung-Piaw Teo. / Ph.D.

Thesis: S.M. in Management Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2016. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 27-30). / Startups play a major role in establishing many new markets. This is theoretically puzzling because existing firms have more resources and relevant core and peripheral capabilities that should advantage them in diversifying into new markets. Here, we explore one mechanism that differentiates startups from existing firms: the stronger link between past performance and resources available for future capability building for startups than for existing firms. Using a simulation model, we show that this reinforcing loop leads entrepreneurial financial markets to quickly focus on more promising startups and, despite initial disadvantage, enable the most promising startups to overtake projects in well-endowed diversifying entrants. We analyze how different markets and technological opportunities can affect these dynamics. / by MohammadMahdi Hashemian. / S.M. in Management Research

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Alfred P. Sloan School of Management. Thesis. 1973. M.S. / MICROFICHE COPY ALSO AVAILABLE IN DEWEY LIBRARY. / Includes bibliographical references. / M.S.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-50). / by Hisham Ibrahim Kassab. / M.S.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Alfred P. Sloan School of Management. Thesis. 1974. Ph.D. / MICROFICHE COPY ALSO AVAILABLE IN DEWEY LIBRARY. / Leaves 9, 10 omitted in paging. Vita. / Bibliography: leaves [197-205]. / Ph.D.

Thesis: M.B.A., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2014. / 26 / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (page 65). / In the era of big data and predictive analytics, recommendation systems or recommendation engines that recommend merchandise or service offerings based on individual preferences have had a revolutionary impact on retail businesses by making "personalization" a reality. As recommendable engines enable retailers to develop an unprecedented 360 degree understanding of their consumers at an individual level, retailers that are early adopters of recommendation engine technologies have gained competitive advantages with sales increase, targeted marketing and customer loyalty. This thesis aims to conduct a comprehensive research of the market for commercial recommendation engines in both online retail and offline retail. The market research covers industry situation overview, market size, industry trend, competitive landscape, major vendors of recommendation engines and their differentiated technologies. This thesis also investigates into the unaddressed customer needs based on the voice of recommendation engine customers and proposes corresponding solutions. As recommendation engines have been widely accepted and proven effective in online retail, this thesis explores how recommendation engines, in combination with other big data technologies, can be used to transform the brick and mortar offline retail. KEYWORDS: Recommendation algorithms, recommendation engines, recommendation systems, onmi-channel personalization technology, data management platforms, online retail, offline retail, digital advertising, emarketing, social log-in, point of sales, mobile payments, geo-location targeting, digital wallet, natural language processing, data aggregation, data warehouse, and data normalization. / by Yaoyao Clare Duan. / M.B.A.

Thesis: S.M. in Management Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2017. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 47-48). / Momentum, whereby past returns are positively associated with future returns, has been documented in most of global equity markets. However, momentum is known to be relatively mild in East Asian equity markets. The momentum strategy does not yield significant returns in the Korean equity market until the early 2000s but does so afterwards. Momentum arises in the Korean equity market as foreign investment increases. Stocks that have a higher proportion of foreign investment exhibit stronger momentum. Similar to other global equity markets, the momentum strategy in Korea is stronger for small stocks and over intermediate horizons, and does not persist for long. / by Sungchul Shin. / S.M. in Management Research