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.