This thesis presents a pilot study conducted to determine the effects of life-cycle costing on completed system properties (performance, cost and time). Life-cycle costing is a costing technique used to determine the long term costs of a system, from the initial research and development through product disposal. Cost categories such as operations, maintenance and repair are included in life-cycle costing estimates. A literature review of life-cycle costing revealed that little research has been done on the long term effects of life-cycle costing, specifically from the point of view of experts in the field who use it in their systems. Therefore, this was the topic of the exploratory research done in this study and the basis for the research model. The pilot study consisted of developing a survey instrument, testing it on a sample population, and analyzing the results to determine how accurately the survey questions answered the research question. The results of the pilot study indicated that there is a large degree of inconsistency in the perceived successes of life-cycle costing amongst experts in the field. Suggestions for additional areas to be explored in future research models are suggested in the conclusion of this pilot study.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-03232005-123235 |
| Date | 24 April 2005 |
| Creators | Brindle, Kari Elizabeth |
| Contributors | Dr. David Dilts, Dr. William Mahaffey |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-03232005-123235/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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