Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-124). / Mobile wireless telephone systems require enormous investments in land-based radio, transmission, and switching systems in order to provide the coverage and capacity to efficiently operate a regional or nationwide cellular phone network. This wireless equipment is manufactured by an oligopoly of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). These "wireless OEMs," in turn, depend upon a growing number of "upstream" component and subsystem suppliers and "downstream" wireless operators. Together these firms compose the "Wireless Equipment Value Chain." As in many industries where technology is changing rapidly, wireless telephony has seen waves of change in industry structure. This thesis surveys the forces currently driving change in the industry, outlines scenarios that describe potential directions for reorganization of the industry structure, and lists a set of warning signs that may provide clues to future trends within the industry. In addition, the thesis provides a model for the structure of the industry, which is used to construct the scenarios. Finally, it compares the strategies of two large OEMs using the models and scenarios. / by David B. Munsinger. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-79). / There are data that suggest that the earth's surface temperature has. increased over the past century. Many scientists believe that this rise is due to the emissions of greenhouse gases by anthropogenic sources, while others believe it is due primarily to natural phenomena, such as solar cycles. Regardless of the actual cause, we should be motivated to drastically reduce · emissions of these gases, improve fuel efficiency, and reduce other type of air pollution. This will also reduce the country's reliance on potentially unstable foreign sources of these fuels. There are many technologies currently being developed which promise to reduce our consumption of fossil fuels in automotive applications, including direct injection internal combustion engines, hybrid engines, battery-powered cars, fuel cells, 42-volt electrical systems, and lightweight bodies. When considered on total lifecycle and infrastructure bases, there can be significant downsides associated with any of these technological improvements, but each also offers a potential contribution to lowering fuel consumption. This thesis proposes that there are steps that can be taken to enhance the mainstream acceptance and benefits of these technologies, including early electrification of loads onboard vehicles, incremental reductions in consumption, and use of fleets to implement technologies requiring new infrastructure buildouts. However, automotive emissions are a small part of the overall emission problem, and we should also be concentrating efforts in other areas as well. / by Allen McDonald Marcum. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-141). / The Internet is changing the way we do business. Today's conventional wisdom says that in order to survive in the new economy era, companies must transform from and align their old business practices, processes and culture to suit the new business requirements. This thesis examines the dynamics of channel shift from traditional supply chain to on-line e-commerce, in particular the enablers and barriers, as well as the value transformation due to the channel shift. The scope of this thesis is limited to B2B E-commerce. This paper took global perspectives to analyze value transformation, enablers and barriers, technology, privacy and security due to channel shift from traditional channel to e-commerce. / by Muhammad Farid [and] Bayu Hanantasena. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-116). / This thesis presents a case study of introduction of the coronary stent into the percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) industry. The industry evolution is analyzed within the industrial life cycle framework developed by Utterback, Tushman and others. The coronary stent was first introduced in 1994, and has passed through all of the industry cycle stages: from a technology disruption stage to an incremental improvement. The interactions of the organization with the exterior environment and the technical development expertise, in combination, prove to be determining elements in an the stent manufacturer's likelihood for success. Relationships with the clinical personnel and practitioner are needed for design validation ( data for regulatory filings), design feedback, clinical acceptance of their products and to promote awareness of their products. Relations with clinical institutions and purchasing groups form distribution channels. This case study of the coronary stent industry provides an additional data point to compare actual industry practice against theory. / by Susan M. Ostrowski. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-91). / In the last years many solutions have been presented as the silver bullet to enhance the IT - Information Technology - of the financial institutions. This thesis is an investigation of the possible applications of web services to generate value in the financial industry, trying to segregate the business reality from the hype surrounding them. The work analyzes the potential benefits and the challenges involved in the adoption and diffusion of web services in the financial industry, utilizing academic research and examples of current use of web services, to try to derive the basis to their adoption in the next years. / by Paulo Guilherme Vita. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. / Our thesis is part of a larger structured thesis conducted under the supervision of Professor Gabriel Bitran. The overall thesis looks at intermediaries in the IT service market, and specifically how Imaging and Computing Corporation (l&C) is positioned in the market. It has been broken up into four parts, with each part an independent thesis completed by two persons. The four sections are: ** The evolving role of Intermediaries in the market for IT products and services. ** The international market for IT services (The cases of Brazil and China). ** The customer Perspective on Services Outsourcing. ** Trends in IT Outsourcing - A Vendor Perspective. Our thesis will examine Trends in IT Outsourcing. We will identify the major trends in IT outsourcing and recommend frameworks that will help I&C align its strategy with current customer needs. / by Carl David Beckett and Mohammad Waqas Khan. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-50). / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Recent scientific progress has shown significant signs that fuel cells will become a tremendous and significant part of distributed energy markets in the future. Fuel Cell technology though first discovered in late 1830s by Sir William Grove, a Welsh judge and scientist only took off when NASA first introduced them in the Gemini space program in 1960s. Technology evolution and the need for a clean energy source for the space program caused the renewed interest in Fuel Cells. A significant amount of progress and numerous investments have been made securing a future for Fuel Cells. The question that remains is not if Fuel Cells will develop into an industry, but when might it evolve and deliver on the promises so intrepidly set forth by researchers, corporations, and investors. The question has been debated many times over in the popular press. For certain, no one is exactly sure what 'when' really means. What this thesis is more interested in is the "how". How will Fuel Cells technology and markets evolve? What factors will determine the industry structure that will influence the development of this industry? How large can we expect this industry to grow? What will be the key drivers for growth? How will different members of this industry facilitate the development of this technology? What form will the industry take? What are some of the current challenges facing the fuel cell manufacturing companies in their growth? This Thesis investigates the formation and growth of Fuel Cell firms in Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut (within 150 miles of Boston) and the current issues facing the upper Management / Founders of these companies. By studying the key factors and developments in these industries different lessons and patterns can be extrapolated which may help answer some of the burning questions surrounding fuel cell industry evolution and where they are on the technology S curve. The basic framework used in this study is taken from the paper written by Gransey to analyze High-tech firms' growth. Eight firms were interviewed using a questionnaire format developed earlier by Prof Elicia Maine to study the materials industry growth. The results of this analysis do indeed conclude that the firms felt that fuel cell is a great product, but it has limitations. It is impossible at this point to beat the grid in cost or reliability with a single piece of equipment- the grid has multiple redundant generating devices and is virtually free. The value of a fuel cell is the ability to have much higher power quality at your location to increase your grid reliability an additional 9 times. It is currently expensive to do this, but no other technology has this capability. Several companies have been formed with lot of optimism and potential for a huge payoff. People are less likely to share ideas in this industry compared to other industries. Secrecy is the norm in this industry and they rely on the patent protection early on and seem to have lot of interactions with the local lawyers for IP filing and protection. Most of the firms did not participate in local industry organizations for the fear of exposing their perceived advantage. Currently fuel cell firms are facing economic challenges due to the downturn in the economy which in turn resulted in the slow down in fuel cell technology research investments. Also as the company grows they are realizing that the market risk is higher than what they have anticipated when they started. This may have an interesting consequence related to the sales and marketing strategy of these companies. Risk is still high, less technology risk than economic and market risk. / by Srinivas Chilukuri. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-95). / This thesis focuses on analyses of the long distance telecom service industry in US market by a system dynamics model to analyze bubble effects. The bubble effects have not been fully analyzed from the structural perspectives, although a lot of articles and papers partially explain the bubble effect. In this thesis, the system dynamics model of capacity expansion process, pricing, demand, cost, and decision making for new fiber installation is constructed by investigating the industrial structure. The model was analyzed, key factors for the bubble were identified, and their impact on the dynamics was captured. Through the analysis, I found that the fiber glut occurred by the fact that a temporal demand soar induced by the emergence of the Internet technologies leaded the telecom service providers to estimate the future demand wrongly, and the error was amplified by the long planning horizon which is economically plausible policy for each provider. I also found that the revenue reduced in the late stage of the bubble since the competitiveness in the industry stimulated price war. / by Rintaro Kurebayashi. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-88). / Why are some industrial design firms more successful than others in consistently producing high quality products and services? Do they hire more talented people, or are they organized so as to maximize the potential of their teams? I begin this thesis with an examination of literature on teamwork, the dynamics of idea propagation, and the product development process itself. This is meant to extract some insights into successful teams across a broad spectrum of activities and what they did to generate a creative output. These examples include references to historically significant teams such as Thomas Edison's Lab and the Manhattan Project. By using such extreme examples, I am seeking similarities in more common projects and organizations. I use a workgroup framework to analyze the factors involved, including the context, the people on the teams, their task requirements and formal organization, group cultures that emerge, as well as the outcomes that define the success, or otherwise of a project. I interviewed a number of professionals in the industry. These include professionals from IDEO, Design Continuum, Modo, and sevenO2design, as well as professors at the MIT School of Engineering, Media Lab, Sloan School, and Olin College of Engineering. The main focus is in analyzing the collaborative processes and methods of these sample organizations. My objective is to identify their methodology for organizing the creative process and how they maintain a high standard across projects, industries and over time. / by Christopher Reichert-Facilides. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 60). / This thesis intends to analyze the semiconductor value chain and identify critical factors, which impact the future industry structure. The main focus is in the dynamics among IDM (Integrated Design Manufacture), foundry and fabless companies. This analysis will utilize double helix [1] model with consideration of economics of scale, fixed cost and product life cycle. Furthermore, the cost and time-to-market factors involved in SoC (system-on-chip) and FPGA/PLD development will be explored. Based on the analysis, a tool will be developed to evaluate make-or-buy (developing own SoC or using off-shelf FPGA/PLD) decision. / by Shih-Lung Wu. / S.M.M.O.T.