Business Commons^™

Scenario Acceleration Through Automated Modelling: A Method And System For Creating Traceable Quantitative Future Scenarios Based On Fcm System Modeling And Natural Language Processing, Christopher W.H. Davis

Dissertations and Theses

Scenario planning is used extensively in strategic planning because it helps leaders broaden their perspectives and make better decisions by presenting possible futures in story form. Some of the benefits of using scenarios include breaking away from groupthink, creating better products, acceleration of organization learning and reducing bias. Product development teams, particularly for digital products, are gaining more autonomy in organizations and tend to manage risk by undergoing very short development iterations on their products while leaning on their consumers for feedback -- a process known as agile development. This method tends to limit the perspective of the team and …

Strategic Management Of Digital Contact Tracing Technologies: Covid-19 And Singapore, Yaya Sirimongkarakorn

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

The emergence of the COVID-19 virus and global health pandemic has sparked a rapid need for new digital solutions. Singapore took a strategic lead by paving the path towards innovating digital contact tracing (DCT) technologies to contain the spread of the virus. The nation’s expedited response and model for DCT has shown to be one that many countries can take example from, regardless of experiencing hurdles in gaining sufficient user uptake initially. The concerns surrounding data security and privacy has fueled the movement for DCT technologies. With the vast majority of the population being involved, many aspects need to be …

Challenges And Practices For Effective Knowledge Transfer For New Members In Ad Hoc Virtual Teams, Alekhya Penmasta, Gopichand Nandamuri, Mohamed Sheikh, Sobha Rani Chittila, Thanvi Vemulapally

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

For many organizations, knowledge transfer whether in a co-location setting or virtual setting is one of the most important and challenging aspects of overall knowledge management infrastructure. The purpose of this research report is to explore the challenges faced by ad hoc virtual teams for achieving effective knowledge transfer between the members. In the year 2020, due to a pandemic caused by COVID-19, many industries were forced to follow physical distancing guidelines for the health and safety of their employees. This required many co-location teams to become ad hoc virtual teams. As success of a new member(s) in a team …

Effective Leadership In Virtual Teams During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Shivani Agarwal, Sara Ferdousi, Mareena John, Alison Nalven, Tyler Stahl

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about an unprecedented economic and social crisis that has affected many businesses. Due to health concerns, many organizations are being managed virtually. This can be challenging, especially for employees and employers that are used to face-to-face interaction and for those who are not tech-savvy. Organizational leaders need to develop strategies and methods to maintain business, as well as maintain the productivity levels of employees. This research paper investigates the most effective ways to lead virtual teams during a pandemic. This is a semi-empirical study based on a short literature review and the survey responses of …

Initial Decision Framework For The Implementation Of Virtual Teams, Duane Murray, Jeffrey Pinkerton, Yaya Sirimongkarakorn, Mohammed Thawab, Mohammed Zaid

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

Virtual teams have been used in varying degrees by organizations over the last several decades. The COVID-19 pandemic has required organizations to increase their use of virtual teams for survival. This increase has placed the positive and negative aspects of working within this virtual paradigm into the spotlight, requiring organizational management and employees to adapt abruptly. This has led to individuals adopting sets of technical tools for communicating and working together in a virtual environment. Identifying and examining the critical perspectives and components for virtual team success, this paper seeks to initiate a framework to help an organization decide if …

An Analysis Of The Competitive Advantages And Threats For Micro, Small & Medium-Sized Businesses (Msmes) In Mexico, Jose Luis Pool Sierra

University Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes the Micro, Small & Medium-sized (MSMEs) businesses in Mexico, their current threats and competitive advantages. The research explores the major issues business owners face and potential strategies they could implement in order to thrive and promote growth for their organizations, using strategies in Supply Chain Management and Good Managerial planning practices, such as the application of the Supply Chain Operations Reference Model (SCOR). The thesis also analyzes a medium-sized business in Mexico and recommends strategies based on the SCOR framework that such an organization could apply to their business operations in order to avoid obstacles and potential …

Ossia Marketing Plan - Hearing Aid Batteries & Starkey Partnership, Abdalilah Owaishiz, Bret Hunley, Caitlin Mohnike, Radha Shrikhande, Tyler Stahl

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

Using this marketing plan, Ossia, a wireless power technology company, will launch into a new market - hearing aid batteries. By partnering with Starkey Manufacturing, a United States based hearing aid manufacturer, they will be able to capitalize on Starkey’s existing user base and sales team, allowing fast entry into the market.

There are four products that are the basis for this plan - a base antenna, expansion antenna, cloud-based management portal, and a wirelessly powered hearing aid battery (using Cota Powered Technology). Starting with a Total Addressable Market of just over 51,000 people (or approximately $4.6 million in potential …

Foodini Marketing Plan, Dave Sherman, Rita Snodgrass, Bharat Verma, Michael Oluwole, Oneshin Aiken

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

This plan provides the strategic direction for the rollout and marketing of the Foodini 2.0, the newest product from the Foodini division of Natural Machines. The Foodini 2.0 is the second 3D Food Printer produced by Natural Machines. The Foodini 1.0 was marketed exclusively to high end restaurants, with a small number released. The Foodini 2.0 builds on the Foodini 1.0 platform by adding an integrated oven and IoT functionality. With the Foodini 2.0, we will introduce subscription access to the new Foodini Design Library, as well as an option for customers to purchase individual designs. The Foodini 2.0 is …

Rea, Alex Tacco Melendez, Anju Babu, Neeti Verma, Pravallika Kavikondala

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

REA is an American company that plans to enter the beauty and skincare industry. It wants to enter the skincare industry with a range of innovative products. However, we will focus on analyzing its moisturizing cream and creating a strategic plan for the product.

In our research we were able to understand how the firm studied the current conditions in the skincare and beauty industry to identify a potential business opportunity. We believe that the firm has been successful in recognizing the opportunity and developing a product that would be able to exploit the opportunity they identified.

We studied the …

Chopstop: A Strategic Plan, Chris Monti, Jill Lilith, Mert Cihan Tonkal, Bret Hunley

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

This project is an analysis of the current strategies that ChopStop, a saw manufacturing company should take in the wake of the business environment today. The goal of the project is to identify the Mission, Vision and Values of the company and use these to steer the direction of the organization moving forward. This project will center on the principles and tools taught by the ETM 525 class, the text Strategic Management Competitiveness and Globalization and the tools explained between them. First, the team starts with framing the organization, its history and their milestones. We then introduce the AIM system …

Lean Startups And Strategic Management, Joshua Binus, Horatiu Corban, Stephanie Miller, Hans Vanderschaaf

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

Slides from a group presentation that offers a lean startup methodology overview, examines challenges and solutions, reviews case studies and discusses lean and strategic management.

Dynamic Capabilities Related To Converging Software Markets, Mike Smith

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

Methodology for in the software development life cycle has rapidly evolved over the last couple decades. This evolution is related to strategies born in just-in-time manufacturing which reveal themselves through methods such as rapid application development, waterfall development, spiral development, agile development, and DevOps. Coupled with consumer and industry adoption of cloud-based technologies, software releases to consumers can happen minutes after code-commits. This environment breeds highly competitive firms, rapid and frequent new entrants, ever changing resource barriers, and a constant threat of replacement. To mitigate these risks the adoption of dynamic capabilities could improve firm success and assist in ensuring …

Outsourcing Strategies In Software Engineering, Cody Miller

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

Over the last several years, software has become a vital component of almost every business. Success increasingly depends on using software as a competitive weapon [1]. In today’s software industry, many organizations are realizing that outsourcing is becoming an imperative, strategic step to growing their business, and as a way to gain competitive advantage over its competitors.

The focus of this article, will be a literature review of current literature on outsourcing, and its strategies in the Software Engineering domain. As a software engineer at Intel, I have seen an increased need for outsourcing within our business group, and the …

Reb Strategic Plan, Mohamed Sheikh, Catalina Reyes, Oneshin Aiken, Marthed Mohammed, Bhawinee Banchongraksa

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

Slides from a presentation outlining the strategic plan for a new skin care enterprise, including strategic planning, customer analysis,marketing plan and forecasting.

Assessment Of Minimum Viable Product Techniques: A Literature Review, Mohammadsaleh Saadatmand

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

Although the minimum viable product (MVP) concept provides a means to test ideas and hypothesis at early stages, it does not indicate that it is easy to build. MVP tests whether your idea solves a real problem that customers are willing to pay for. In order to reach the stage of building a product that people want to use and pay for, we need to make sure product passes certain tests. In turn, MVP techniques/methods are designed not only to test technical questions about the product, but also to assess the viability of business model hypothesis. Once the hypothesis that …

The Dynamics Of Open Strategy: From Adoption To Reversion, Melissa M. Appleyard, Henry W. Chesbrough

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Innovation has become more open in recent years. Yet the decision to become more open and the challenge of sustaining that openness are not well understood. This is the concern of the “content” branch of Open Strategy, defined as the branch that addresses an organization's open innovation strategy. We examine the initial motivations to adopt an open strategy, and then consider when organizations choose to maintain that open strategy or revert to a more proprietary approach. Similarly, we examine motivations to open up a previously proprietary strategy. We find that these dynamics depend on the organization's desire to either foster …

Supply Chain Integration Configurations: Process Structure And Product Newness, Christos Tsinopoulos, Carlos Mena

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the configurations of supply chain integration.

Design/methodology/approach – The authors use qualitative data from manufacturers shortlisted for the UK’s Manufacturing Excellence awards over three years. Detailed processes and policies of 68 manufacturers are analysed.

Findings – Process structure and product newness require different supply chain configurations, which change as products mature. Supply chain integration is dynamic, and the extent of collaboration between suppliers and customers will be different at different moments in time. The authors define and discuss four key supply chain configurations: customised; ramp-up; recurring; coordinated.

Research limitations/implications – …

What Role Does Government Procurement Play In Manufacturing In The Uk And Internationally And How Might This Change In The Future, Barbara Morton, Gregg Paget, Carlos Mena

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report, commissioned by the Government Office for Science, has the general aim of reviewing the available evidence concerning the impact and role of public sector procurement on UK manufacturing. Specifically the report addresses the following questions:

1. What is the current framework for Government procurement in the UK?
2. How does Government procurement directly and indirectly impact on manufacturing activities?
3. How do UK procurement frameworks compare to other competitor nation procurement in terms of supporting manufacturing?
4. In what ways could co-ordinated procurement (procurement that meets multiple Government departmental goals) catalyse and support UK Manufacturing?

Previous research has shown that public procurement …

Bridging The Missing Link Between "Top-Down" And "Bottom-Up": A Strategic Policy Model For International Collaboration In Science And Technology, Pattharaporn Suntharasaj

Dissertations and Theses

Success in International Collaboration in Science and Technology (ICST) depends on various factors, different players have different perspectives. Governments participate in collaboration in order to meet their country's policy goals. Scientists and researchers establish their contacts through their personal channels or scientific networks in order to pursue their own academic interest. There are two significant approaches in ICST Policy making which are "top-down" and "bottom-up" approaches. Both approaches are important. One approach can not fit all. Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages. A balance between these two approaches is necessary.

The objective of this research is to develop …

Supply Network Relationships: A Review Of Empirical Evidence, Andrew Humphries, Carlos Mena

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Supply networks are prevalent industry structures which, like the academic literature, are complex, confusing and short on practical guidance. We evaluate the current position of empirical research to expose the main constructs that can be used to study cooperative supply network relationships, to identify emergent themes, gaps and shortcomings, to share insights with managers and, to propose future research approaches. Five significant drivers of supply network relationship behaviors are identified: complexity, power, alignment of objectives, knowledge management and coordination. This paper provides a unique, topical 'map' of the supply networks field and proposes a theoretical model for integrating the many …

Dynamics Capabilities, Caroline Mudavadi, Farshad Madani, Garrett Gilliland, Corey White

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

Slides from a presentation based on Teece, D. J. (January 01, 2007). Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. Strategic Management Journal, 28, 13, 1319.

Discusses capabilities that enable business enterprises to create, deploy, and protect the intangible assets that support superior long-run business performance.

Technology Assessment And Attractive Analysis Of A New Concrete Modifier, Asem Alluhibi, Farshad Madani, Pinprapa Pakdeekasem

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

MB, a new concrete modifier containing Silica Fume (FS), has fantastic performance based on the claims of a Russian Company. Iran’s government decided to invest to produce this new concrete modifier. Iran concrete Institute (ICI) is dedicated to do this task. Technology assessment (TA), attractiveness analysis (AA), and business modeling are three main phases to study this investment. Applying TA and AA helps decision makers to make their mind based on technological facts and realities of the market. This paper covers the results of phases 1 and 2. At the end, MB is introduced a superior technology and appropriate strategies …

Case Study: The Optimization Of Information Flow & Organization In Software Development, Farshad Madani, Bing Wang, Xiaowen Wang, Corey White, Liying Wang

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

Trial and error are inevitable in the process of software development; the redesign is wasteful when unfocused communication occurs within the development process. To speed up this development process, we optimized the information flow and redesigned the development organization into chunks. First, we investigated the information flow between tasks and coupled tasks into phases utilizing the Design Structure Matrix (DSM) so that the information exchange among chunks of tasks is as few as possible. In this way, the redundant iterations of tasks are eliminated. Meanwhile, we also grouped the engineers into groups according to the tasks, in this; we eliminated …

Managing Knowledge-Based Projects, Farshad Madani

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

In knowledge-based projects, many risks can be resulted due to lack of knowledge applied in the project. To avoid these risks, project based companies need to implement a convenient mechanism to develop knowledge management strategies. In this article, this mechanism is addressed as a KM strategic planning model, which is inherently a process model. This model helps to build a bridge between PMBOK processes and knowledge management strategy development. The foundation of this bridge is made on two pillars. First, the spiral of knowledge introduced by Nonaka [1] and, second, PMBOK processes. To develop the KM strategic planning model, the …

Product Safety And Security In The Global Supply Chain: Issues, Challenges And Research Opportunities, Ann Marucheck, Noel Greis, Carlos Mena, Linning Cai

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

number of high profile product safety events and recalls have heightened public attention to the safety and security of the products that people consume and use. While product safety isn’t a new topic, the effect of the global supply chain in creating or exacerbating safety risks and vulnerabilities is both timely and relevant. In this essay we focus on how the field of operations management can provide fresh perspectives and insights in addressing the challenges of product safety and security in the global supply chain. We first examine the product safety issues and challenges that arise in five industries that …

Supply Chain Management For Servitized Products: A Multi-Industry Case Study, Mark Johnson, Carlos Mena

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Manufacturers are combining products and services in order to provide greater value to the customer and to facilitate longer more profitable business relationships. Organisations that pursue this route are following a strategy of servitization which requires the effective management of supply chains. A framework was developed from the extant literature that was used as a lens for the analysis of supply chains for servitized products. This research uses case studies to explore the challenges and opportunities that face the supply chain management function within organisations that are pursuing a strategy of servitization. The case studies indicate that servitized supply chains …

Third Extrusion Project: Project Analysis, Ingrid Suarez

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

This paper uses a case study approach to analyze the Third Extrusion Project (TEP) in Cerro Matoso S.A (CMSA). The TEP was chosen to be analyzed because of the importance to the company, the quality of the project management, and the impact in CMSA’s business. The analysis was focused on the managerial and organizational aspects, rather than on technical topics. It was based on the Strategic Project Leadership framework proposed by Dr. Aaron Shedar.

BHP Billiton, the parent organization of CMSA, is one of the world’s premier mining companies. Its project management office aims to ensure that the project management …

Ebay Strategic Analysis And Recommendation, Jerry Compton, Aaron Freier, Archie Patdu, Nantachai Phuvasate, Farhad Rostami

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

The Internet has seen its share of success and failures as businesses try to understand how this new medium is going to be used in the 21st century. The eBay corporation has defined itself as not only a player on the Internet but as founders of a new business concept: online bidding and selling for the masses.

Being first to market gives eBay some of the key strengths to make the most of this new medium. The key success factors such as a large customer base and a compelling environment online are allowing eBay to be profitable and be seen …

An Analysis Of The Effect Of State Regulation Of Commercial Income Tax Preparers On The Quality Of Income Tax Returns, Jeanie Grace Sumner

Dissertations and Theses

Occupational regulation of many professions has grown in magnitude and complexity in the past fifty years. Statutes relating to occupational regulation are often implemented by state legislatures without sufficient quantitative analysis.

Prior studies have analyzed the need for regulation to protect consumers. Some research has been published which addresses the differences in the quality of services offered by regulated and unregulated professions. Due to lack of data, the effect of state regulation on commercial income tax preparers has not been quantified.

Recently data from the 1979 cycle of the Taxpayer Compliance Measurement Program (TCMP) has been made available by the …