Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-89). / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / The quality of higher education has been a growing concern in the United States and United Kingdom. There have been no notable improvements in the education system until the last few years. Considerable transformation in the higher education arena has begun to take place in step with the shift of industries from manufacturing to knowledge-based. The competitive environment has altered and paved the way for new entrants to successfully emerge and offer more educational options to students. This research will discuss the factors that may influence the wave of higher education learning in the near future. Various technological research and initiatives led by the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, NASA and other organizations highly contribute to the technological advancements in distance learning and other interactive learning modes. Faculty will play an important role in the progress of non-traditional learning approaches as they continue to experiment and work on the available technologies. Established institutions in higher education maintain many traditions and invest a lot of resources to continuously improve their current processes. New entrants cater the needs of a different type of market composed of working adults and students who seek to learn specific skills and improve their employability. They employ a different type of business model that might prove to be disruptive. The new institutions have begun to invade the market of established institutions that have difficulty switching to new technologies and teaching methods due to the rigidities experienced in their organizations. / by Veronica Go. / 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). / This paper analyzes the changes in the Internet portal business strategy for telecom and other Internet access service providers (ISPs) because broadband Internet access is becoming the standard due to the rapid technology development and growth of Internet access needs and services. I provide some viable strategies for telecom companies that compete with successful Internet portals such as Yahoo. Based on my survey results, I propose the following three workable strategies. The first is outsourcing excellent modules to web sites at both large corporations and individual sites. The second strategy is providing specialized information management services for individual activities in order to retain loyal users, and the third strategy is making this service available for brand building by providing solid security/privacy policies at portals available only at telecom companies. Also, I identified the following four issues that telecom companies need to address to implement the above strategies. First, to introduce modularized services to large-scale competitors, I encourage protocol interoperability on both sides until substantial results and benefits have been realized. Next, telecom companies need to prepare to provide services that first-tier portals are unable to introduce, e.g., schemes that do not require visitors to be led to telecom companies sites. Third, to establish a solid reputation and public trust in the security/privacy services, telecom companies need to prepare a long-term strategic business plan to reach the goal. Last, viable business model is not only advertisement but also marketplace model. Selling security function as an option is also effective. / by Takeshi Motohashi. / 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 75-79). / This thesis explores the factors contributing to the successes and failures of internal corporate ventures. There are many large companies today using internal corporate ventures as a way to develop new businesses and products while creating potential growth for the parent company. Large companies believe that they can create these new businesses by combining the agility of a small startup with the corporate resources of the large firm. However, economic pressures, corporate bureaucracy, and lack of entrepreneurial experience can significantly affect the performance of these ventures. By creating an internal venture organization the corporation hopes to protect the new startup ideas from corporate interference. By reviewing past research and interviewing individuals from companies currently having some success in internal corporate venturing, this thesis hopes to show what factors positively and negatively affect the success of internal ventures. Additionally, differences between the literature and the interviews will be identified as potential future research topics. By understanding what factors can affect an internal venture; companies may be able to help prevent venture failure in the future. / by Simon Dodd. / 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 147-161). / The thesis addresses whether there is competitive advantage to outsourcing and whether outsourcing is sustainable. The reason, outsourcing (to foreign countries) has become an acerbic topic because the breadth of its impact has now reached all strata of society-from blue-collar to white-collar. Our answer is based upon the pooling of several analytical tools: Ricardian comparative advantage, game theory, system dynamics, Clockspeed and a new holistic framework developed for this topic, the Evolution Matrix. Together these tools represent an Evolution Trajectory that is representative of progress, which for the purpose of this thesis is interpreted as advances in technology and globalization. Thus, these tools are applied from a perspective that is grounded deep in history. In doing so we learn that outsourcing is a part of the trajectory theme. A part of this trajectory theme is the global turnkey production network for the electronics industry. Its growth, abroad, and utilization by American electronics companies have a double-edged nature. This network has been a savior and potential source of competition. Our conclusion, outsourcing is a tactical tool. For companies, outsourcing may not aid a firm in its core competency quest. The competitive advantage of outsourcing is fleeting at best and outsourcing is sustainable only over the short-term. However, despite these risks, it will not fade away because of technology's progress. The issue then is how best to navigate the outsourcing debate. To do this the manager must plot his company's location and chart its trajectory within the competitive landscape. This is what the Evolution Matrix was developed for. / by Carl Joseph Chen. / 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 112-115). / Banking channel management has become a crucial component in the drive for improved efficiency. Since the channel is the interlocutor between customers and products, banks are leveraging their knowledge of channels to efficiently address perfect product portfolio through the most cost-effective and profitable channel. This thesis describes some ideas currently influencing banking channel management strategy and how banks can manage and take advantage of these factors through focusing on efficiency, customer segmentation and channel interaction versus cost structure. It first provides a global perspective of the banking industry through a survey of four regions and countries, and then reviews current trends and strategies applied by banks and consulting firms. On this foundation, it makes recommendations as to how the industry can best adapt to changes in banking channel management in order to remain competitive and efficient. / by Renato Teixeira Catalan. / 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 (p. 70-71). / Business developments within the water industry exist in the form of corporate market ventures and governmental initiatives to satisfy municipal needs. The two are infinitely interrelated and with increasing demand, new financing options and heightened regulatory activity they are dynamically shaping the industry's behavior. As 1) water has become a limited and invaluable resource, 2) once government controlled water operations fragment and reconsolidate under privatization, 3) technological adoption accelerates, and 4) regulation both domestic and internationally tightens, new ventures are at the mercy of increasingly multifaceted system dynamics. This paper aims to analyze the complexity of these dynamics, by placing weight on the components that are critical in adding value to the system in the face of a shaping environment. Whether entrepreneurial, intrapreneurial or governmentally-driven, understanding truly relevant value propositions and strategic importance will help clarify the various elements that affect decisions on new business venture planes. / by Thomas F. Gallo. / 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 155-158). / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / This thesis probes the causal elements of product platform strategies and the effects of platform strategy on a firm. Platform strategies may be driven by internal or external forces, and the lifecycle of a firm and of a platform strategy evolve over time in response to both the needs of the firm and the changes in the external environment. This external environment may consist of a "platform ecology," in which the platform strategies of firms affect one another. These effects may be positive, buoying revenues, or negative, eliminating markets and appropriating value. The thesis assumes that a company whose strategy is to produce complements or services for another firm's platform may be said to have a platform strategy, and further assumes that a company with a modular platform strategy built primarily for its own internal use may also be said to have a platform strategy. Finally, this thesis will demonstrate example visualization techniques that make the nature of such platform strategies more apparent. This thesis asks and tries to answer a few key questions: ** What comprises the elements of a platform strategy? ** What kinds of companies adopt these strategies? ** What circumstances drive adoption? ** What outcomes can be expected? ** What happens to such a strategy over time? The thesis asserts and attempts to prove these hypotheses: ** Platform Strategies of one firm can influence those of many other firms, by direct effect on the other firms, or by simple economic benefit example. ** Return on Investment (ROI) is influenced by these strategies. ** Beyond ROI and thus Profit fluctuations, company survival, in an evolutionary Darwinian sense, may depend on these strategic choices. / by Richard B. LeVine. / 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 51-53). / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / The business models of industries addressing consumers over the age of 55 are examined. A 3-D framework: Define, Design, and Deliver is developed to provide an understanding of notable failures in the mature market. Case studies in three sub-industries are used to highlight the negative effects of key influencers on each of the 3-D activities. Documentation from the business press and interviews with industry leaders are used to illuminate issues and seek best practices. The 3-D framework is used to explain mature market failures and to provide practical guidelines to business. / by Timothy I. Panagos. / 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 213-215). / The emergence of industry standards often has disruptive impacts on the behavior of markets. It can drive commoditization, substitution and convergence. It also changes the industry structure creating new business models and value chains, coupled with the entrance of new firms and the exit of incumbents still entrenched in proprietary technology. Studies have been conducted on the impact of industry standards in the personal computer and microprocessor industries which resulted in the disintegration of the industries into a horizontally organized cluster of hundreds of firms, and the emergence of value-capture powerhouses within the industry. This thesis studies the shifts in industry structure in the field of Application Platform Suite (APS) software resulting from the emergence of Java programming language as the industry standard for non-Microsoft-based application development. APS software runs and manages the critical e-business applications managing the interactions between users and the enterprise backend IT systems. BEA Systems and IBM are the two dominant Java-based APS value-capture powerhouses within this industry. This thesis surveys and summarizes the existing body of research on industry dynamics, growth strategy, technology strategy and competitive strategy, applies it to the field of APS software industry to predict the dynamics of the value chains and propose future strategies in this industry. It predicts that (1) Success of Microsoft's entry into enterprise APS market is low to medium; (2) Success of IBM in creating a unified development platform is medium to low; and (3) Success of Microsoft's entry into SAP's core packaged business application market is medium to low. Building on these forecasts, the / (cont.) thesis proposes the following strategies: (1) Microsoft should fundamentally change its business and technology strategy to shift the likely outcome towards its favor; (2) SAP should consider progressively outsourcing its back-end technology components to focus on the applications business, and BEA and IBM should consider positioning themselves as the preferred choice of the IT industry's back-end system provider; (3) Microsoft and BEA should invest in small open-source experimentation to understand the open-source dynamics; and (4) BEA should plan for the contingency of being an acquisition target with the primary aim of sustaining its fundamental position of remaining as an independent and pure-play infrastructure software vendor. / by Boon Chung Phua. / 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 55-57). / Knowledge networks have received a significant amount of attention in the past few decades as people look beyond corporate governance and resource-based approaches to uncover sources of competitive advantage. While this area of research is useful for organizations in general, it is especially pertinent to R&D organizations where knowledge flow is the critical enabler for breakthrough innovation. The proposed thesis will examine the drivers of knowledge flow and how it impacts the performance of Functional Centers and its subunits. The core of this research focuses on a medium-sized R&D firm in Singapore. This work is divided into the following steps: Develop a structured interview for gathering ideas from senior managers, Create and execute a survey to assess the knowledge network, Process and analyze the results This thesis will investigate the following questions: What are the various approaches people use to form their working networks and which approaches generate the most contacts and which methods generate the most useful contacts. Does strong intra-center/subunit connectivity negatively impact inter-center/subunit connectivity with people from other groups? How does the presence of people with strong networks within the centers affect the performance of the group? Do the managers of these people recognize their value/contribution and how does it affect the usefulness of these connectors? How does the duration of a bond between two people affect the quality of its social and work-related interactions? How does the willingness to build cross-level bonds (managers and junior engineers) impact the performance and efficacy of managers hence their workgroups? / by Liew Kou-Yew. / S.M.M.O.T.