{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/99030"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/99030","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Robust network design","abstract":"As an equipment manufacturer for the mining and construction industries, Caterpillar's business is heavily impacted by the cyclicality of these two industries. To be competitive in the market while investing prudently to ensure shareholders' value, Caterpillar needs to make capacity decisions with peaks and troughs of the cycles in mind. Through the peaks and troughs of business cycles, the perceptions change from not enough capacity to under-utilization of asset constrained capacity respectively. The purpose of this thesis is to establish a framework that enhances robustness in investment decision-making within the 2-6 year capacity planning horizon. This entails the ability to balance risk and return for the company and account for the cyclical nature of business and other strategic considerations. The project also aims to enhance consistency across stakeholders and introduce an aggregate risk perspective under corporate capital constraint.","abstract_html":"As an equipment manufacturer for the mining and construction industries, Caterpillar's business is heavily impacted by the cyclicality of these two industries. To be competitive in the market while investing prudently to ensure shareholders' value, Caterpillar needs to make capacity decisions with peaks and troughs of the cycles in mind. Through the peaks and troughs of business cycles, the perceptions change from not enough capacity to under-utilization of asset constrained capacity respectively. The purpose of this thesis is to establish a framework that enhances robustness in investment decision-making within the 2-6 year capacity planning horizon. This entails the ability to balance risk and return for the company and account for the cyclical nature of business and other strategic considerations. The project also aims to enhance consistency across stakeholders and introduce an aggregate risk perspective under corporate capital constraint.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Chua, Shui Ying"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Saurabh Amin and Chris Caplice."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015","date_published":"2015","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:52Z","subjects":["Sloan School of Management.","Civil and Environmental Engineering.","Leaders for Global Operations Program."],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."],"rights_urls":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/99030","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Saurabh Amin and Chris Caplice."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT","Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 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In conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT.","Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.","Includes bibliographical references (pages 61-63)."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["As an equipment manufacturer for the mining and construction industries, Caterpillar's business is heavily impacted by the cyclicality of these two industries. To be competitive in the market while investing prudently to ensure shareholders' value, Caterpillar needs to make capacity decisions with peaks and troughs of the cycles in mind. Through the peaks and troughs of business cycles, the perceptions change from not enough capacity to under-utilization of asset constrained capacity respectively. The purpose of this thesis is to establish a framework that enhances robustness in investment decision-making within the 2-6 year capacity planning horizon. This entails the ability to balance risk and return for the company and account for the cyclical nature of business and other strategic considerations. The project also aims to enhance consistency across stakeholders and introduce an aggregate risk perspective under corporate capital constraint."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["M.B.A.","S.M."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Robust network design"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Saurabh Amin and Chris Caplice."],"dc:contributor.department":["Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT","Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 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