Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2018. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 121-123). / The purpose of this work is to examine the "The Cluster Approach" -- the humanitarian response coordination strategy adopted by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) following the 2005 'Humanitarian Response Review' -- through the lens of systems thinking and develop potential system architecture representations to explore how the coordination mechanism can enhance complementarity, partnerships, and collaboration among humanitarian actors. The qualitative analysis of "The Cluster Approach" through system architecture principles strongly suggests, that indeed, the framework -- as currently envisioned by the IASC and the humanitarian community -- can be described and illustrated as a structured and architected system. In addition, the analysis demonstrates that the system architecture visualization can help (1) validate the existing framework and (2) design new variants to improve and strengthen the formal and functional relationships while leveraging the underlying organizational platform of the IASC's constituent membership. The analysis also suggests that visualizing the elements of the system as well as the interrelationships among response organizations, actors, and the transactions between these through system architecture principles -- reasoned and guided by holistic thinking -- can be useful and consequential to manage complexity and reduce ambiguity of the IASC's humanitarian system. Finally, extensions of this research to (1) design critical coordination priorities, (2) incorporate more architectural flexibility to manage exceptions, and (3) improve situational awareness of actors to adjust behaviors can hopefully lead to more effective and socially meaningful humanitarian response efforts. / by John F. Barresi. / S.M. in Engineering and Management
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MIT/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/120874 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Barresi, John F |
| Contributors | Bryan R. Moser., System Design and Management Program., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering and Management Program, System Design and Management Program., System Design and Management Program |
| Publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Source Sets | M.I.T. Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 123 pages, application/pdf |
| Rights | MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission., http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 |
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