Enterprise-wide product design: Linking optimal design decisions to the theory of the firm.

This dissertation studies the link of engineering to business decision-making. The linking is developed analytically and formalizes the interaction among engineering, microeconomics and finance. This formalization is used to quantify the impact of engineering information on business trade-offs and the firm's total value. Engineering decision-making is then placed in an enterprise context. A product design decision model is presented that is iterative among disciplines rather than linear across them. The decision model is demonstrated in pragmatic case studies from the automotive industry.Doctor of Engineering (DEng)Applied SciencesFinanceOperations researchSocial SciencesSystems scienceUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies College of Engineering Graduate Professional Programshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/124000/2/3118730.pd