A methodology to support strategic design and management decision-making in entrepreneurial systems: A case study in mobility on demand (MoD) transportation
Year: 2013
Editor: Udo Lindemann, Srinivasan V, Yong Se Kim, Sang Won Lee, John Clarkson, Gaetano Cascini
Author: De Lessio, Mark P.; Cardin, Michel-Alexandre; Astaman, Angel; Djie, Valerie
Series: ICED
Institution: Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Page(s): 327-336
ISBN: 978-1-904670-46-9
ISSN: 2220-4334
Abstract
This paper introduces a methodology to support strategic design and management decision-making in entrepreneurial systems that are called to evolve towards more complexity. It describes a framework to capture the early dependencies between the components and stakeholders of an enterprise organization that faces a wide array of uncertainty in a start-up environment. The methodology consists of two steps: 1) a layered DSM representation, and 2) flexibility analysis. The first step provides a systems-level representation of the enterprise, and enables quick identification of opportunities for flexibility. The second step enables thorough and quantitative analysis of opportunities for flexibility to support strategic design and management decision-making. The concept of flexibility, often associated to real options, is exploited as a way to deal pro-actively with uncertainty, which is prevalent in a startup environment. It provides entrepreneurial systems with the “right, but not the obligation, to change and adapt over time as uncertainty unfolds.” The proposed methodology is applied as demonstration to the analysis of a startup system in the sector of mobility on-demand transportation.
Keywords: Mobility on demand, strategic design, organizational system, design structure matrix, flexibility in engineering design, real options analysis, transportation