Modeling and Measuring Affordability as Fitness

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dc.contributor.authorKeller, George Burleighen
dc.contributor.committeechairTriantis, Konstantinos P.en
dc.contributor.committeememberDrew, Katherine F.en
dc.contributor.committeememberMoran, David D.en
dc.contributor.committeememberRahmandad, Hazhiren
dc.contributor.committeememberKleiner, Brian M.en
dc.contributor.departmentIndustrial and Systems Engineeringen
dc.date.accessioned2017-04-06T15:45:21Zen
dc.date.adate2012-04-02en
dc.date.available2017-04-06T15:45:21Zen
dc.date.issued2012-01-27en
dc.date.rdate2016-10-03en
dc.date.sdate2012-01-27en
dc.description.abstractAffordability of products and services is an economic benefit that should accrue to consumers, whether they are corporations, government agencies or individuals. This concept of affordability goes beyond conventional wisdom that considers affordability as the ability to pay the price of a product or service. This dissertation defines and explores a broader concept of affordability – one of fitness to perform at the level of quality required by the consumer, to perform at that level whenever the product or service is used, and to do so with minimum consumption of resources. This concept of affordability is applied to technological systems by using the complexity sciences concept of fitness as the metaphor for technological systems' fitness. During a system design evolution, the specific design outcome is determined by that set of design search paths followed – it is path dependent. Dynamic mechanisms create, dictate and maintain path dependence. Initial conditions define the start and direction of a path. During subsequent design steps, positive feedback influences the designer to continue on that path. This dissertation describes underlying mechanisms that create, dictate and maintain path dependence; discusses the effects of path dependence on system design and system affordability; models these effects using system dynamics modeling; and suggests actions to address its effects. This dissertation also addresses several types of fitness landscapes, and suggests that the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) solution space is a form of fitness landscape suitable for evaluating the efficiency, and thus the fitness, of research and development (R&D) projects. It describes the use of DEA to evaluate and select Department of Defense (D0D) R&D projects as a new application of DEA.en
dc.description.degreePh. D.en
dc.identifier.otheretd-01272012-164845en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-01272012-164845/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/77365en
dc.language.isoen_USen
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectcoadaptationen
dc.subjectcoevolutionen
dc.subjectpath dependenceen
dc.subjectlock-inen
dc.subjectdata envelopment analysisen
dc.subjectaffordabilityen
dc.subjectfitnessen
dc.subjectsystems engineeringen
dc.subjectfitness landscapesen
dc.subjectfitness functionsen
dc.titleModeling and Measuring Affordability as Fitnessen
dc.typeDissertationen
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
thesis.degree.disciplineIndustrial and Systems Engineeringen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.leveldoctoralen
thesis.degree.namePh. D.en

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