EMA 620 Module Three Worksheet
In this course, you will be asked to respond to a series of short-response questions. In this module, these
short-response questions will allow you to check your understanding of trade-off studies and the
decision-making process.
This worksheet will be graded with the Module Three Assignment Rubric.
1. Suppose you needed to make a decision regarding which engine type to use in a new
automobile. Using a five-step process consisting of Planning, Gathering Data, Processing the
Data, Making the Decision, and Implementing the Decision, describe how you would decide on a
new engine type.
Your response:
2. Identify the stakeholders for the following decisions:
a) The design of a traffic light at a new intersection
b) The design of a new weather satellite
c) The choice of a communications subsystem on a new mid-ocean buoy designed to
measure ocean temperature at various depths
d) The choice of a security subsystem for a new power plant
e) The design of a new enterprise management system for a major company
Your response:
3. Perform a trade study on choosing a new car. Identify four alternatives, each with three to five
criteria, and collect the necessary information required.
Your response:
4. To illustrate some important issues in conducting trade studies, consider the following simplified
example. The trade study involved six alternative system concepts. Five Measures of
Effectiveness (MOEs) were used, each weighted equally. For simplicity’s sake, the MOEs have
been titled A, B, C, D, and E. After values were assigned to each MOE of the six alternatives, the
results were the following:
Weighted MOE A B C D E Tota
l
Concept I 1 1 5 4 2 13
Concept II 3 3 2 5 4 17
Concept III 4 1 5 5 5 20
Concept IV 2 2 3 5 1 13
Concept V 4 4 4 4 4 20
Concept VI 1 1 1 3 3 9
Note that two stood out well above the rest, both receiving the same total number of points.
On the basis of the above rating profiles:
a) Would you conclude Concept III to be superior, equal, or inferior to Concept V? Explain
your answer.
b) If you were not entirely satisfied with this result, what further information would you try
to obtain?
c) Discuss potential opportunities for further study that might lead to a clearer
recommendation between concepts III and V.
Your response:
5. Suppose you want to purchase a new smartphone. Come up with a list of the four or five most
important features for your use—each of which can be qualitatively or quantitatively
described—and then perform a trade-off analysis, using a technique of your choosing.