Basic
Development and Decision Processes:
Technical and Economic Analyses
Michael
Tekletsion Berhan
African Technology Forum
Copyright
2000
Published
on-line at:
www.africantechnologyforum.org
and
http://africantech.home.att.net/home.htm
Sections
Introduction
Section 1 - Development
and Decision Methods
Section
2 - Performance
and Decision Matrices
Section 3 - Economic Analyses
This is intended as an introductory guide to the type of analytical processes used in the development and selection of modern products, production systems and manufacturing processes, and services. It reviews some of the basic tools and methods that many businesses and organizations worldwide have come to use for these development tasks, particularly since the late 1980s when the global marketplace became an even fiercer battleground. These have been found to really help make development and selection projects more efficient with resources, more applicable to the intended purpose of the project, and best of all, better able to ensure survival under changing conditions and challenges. As these processes are not capital intensive, they are as easily applicable to organizations in developing nations as in fully industrialized nations.
These methods also help make the documentation of product, process, and service development much more readily understandable to all interested parties. Management can see what methods and criteria their staff and experts used to analyze and solve a problem. Employees can see how their own work relates to the overall project being undertaken, thereby allowing for better solutions with increased benefits and decreased interference between subsystems, or sub-groups in the case of services. Both management and employees can see the various steps and levels of projects with a finer lens, allowing them to learn even better lessons for future projects. And, where it can be displayed to the public, the end users and customers of these products, processes, and services can better see how their needs were taken into account and how those needs guided the solutions being offered to them.
Although these development and decision processes can be used in most any area of endeavor, financial constraints are a common denominator we all live with, particularly in least developed countries (LDCs). A very basic review of general financial criteria and "figures of merit" are discussed towards the end. These criteria can directly be included in the development and decision processes described herein, or used to analyze any investment, present or future.
Please note that African Technology Forum Consulting may be contacted to provide detailed examples of how to apply these tools to a particular situation. Visit www.africantechnologyforum.org, or write to us at africantech@att.net, mtberhan@alum.mit.edu, or mtberhan@att.net for any such assistance.
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Michael
Tekletsion Berhan
African Technology Forum
Copyright
2000
Please note that African Technology Forum Consulting may be contacted to provide detailed examples of how to apply these tools to a particular situation. Visit www.africantechnologyforum.org, or write to us at africantech@att.net, mtberhan@alum.mit.edu, or mtberhan@att.net for any such assistance.