| With the increasing scarcity and prices of needed resources new technologies may hold the key to renewed productivity and profitability.;Two engineering consulting firms specializing in computer-assisted engineering design and testing and six of their clients cooperated in identifying four alternatives and providing cost and information concerning performance improvements for six completed consulting projects. The cost data was assembled for each project as completed and for the three other alternatives. The data was gathered through onsite interviews and personal analysis of each firm's financial and personnel records. The most cost-effective alternatives were identified for each case using three financial criteria--the raw cost-benefit ratio, the discounted cost-benefit ratio, and the net present value--and the results compared. An aggregate analysis was also conducted.;Thus the research identified four, realistic alternatives employing various levels of engineering consulting by which firms could acquire advanced technologies. A methodology was developed to evaluate these and other alternatives when the value of the benefits is highly uncertain. It was learned that who performs the analysis and the criterion chosen for the evaluation can indeed affect the outcome. The consulting and client firms, in general, disagreed on the performance improvements of the client firms' engineers, the cost to be included, the treatment of project delay costs, the value of training by the consultants, and the financial criterion to be employed.;This research proposed to: (1) identify alternatives by which business firms could utilize engineering consultants to obtain advanced engineering/scientific technologies, (2) identify the relevant costs for each alternative, (3) develop the methodology necessary to evaluate the alternatives, and (4) determine if the selection of the most cost-effective alternative could be dependent upon: (a) who (the consulting firm or its client) does the analysis and (b) the choice of financial criterion. |
