Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-71). / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / This paper attempts to explain why the United States Coast Guard decided to undertake its most recent major capital asset replacement effort-the Deepwater Program-through the use of a systems approach. Several explanations are considered, but a series of interviews and a review of events during the 1996-2003 timeframe yield an explanation that points to bureaucratic politics and status dynamics as the most likely cause. In particular, the paper finds that the Coast Guard's low status (vis-à-vis other organizations within the Department of Transportation) combined with the Deepwater community's high status (vis-à-vis other communities within the Coast Guard) to produce a political environment that made the use of a systems approach almost inevitable. The paper closes by considering the policy ramifications of systems approaches used by relative weak organizations. / by Vikram Mansharamani. / S.M.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MIT/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/16640 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Mansharamani, Vikram, 1974- |
| Contributors | Harvey M. Sapolsky., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Political Science., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Political Science. |
| Publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Source Sets | M.I.T. Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 71 leaves, 1247049 bytes, 1668406 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission., http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 |
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