Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

5-1991

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Engineering Science

Major Professor

William G. Sullivan

Committee Members

Kenneth E. Kirby, Wayne Claycombe, James Reeve, John C. Hungerford, H. L. Dodds

Abstract

Economic justification procedures are a barrier to adoption of investments because of their inability to recognize the "non-financial" benefits of such investments. Hence, the focus of investment management research is in developing methodologies that evaluate investments that promote a firm's competitive strategy. In this regard, a representative investment scenario facing an alpha test site is selected for this research because of the financial and non-financial variables impacting the investment decision. State-of-the-art investment management principles are utilized to develop a new conceptual investment management framework. This framework links investment alternatives with the firm's manufacturing capabilities as defined by the firm's business plan. A strategy-based investment evaluation methodology is developed on this platform. Further, a prototype strategy-based Knowledge-Based Expert System (KBES) is developed to provide a simplified interactive facility for non-expert users to apply this methodology. Currently the strategy-based methodology is being tested and implemented at several U.S. firms which are seeking to improve their investment evaluation processes.

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