Measuring and Delivering RandD Value

Volume 1 | Issue 2 | October 2005 | Management Roundtable Website

Issue Two Contents:

2-1 Scoring R&D Success: Metrics of Champions
[read article]

2-2 Speed-Based R&D at Dow Chemical
[read article]

2-3 Process Initiatives Drive New Product Market Acceptance
[read article]

2-0 Introduction

Welcome to the second issue of "Measuring and Delivering R&D Value," a short series of publications created to report on Management Roundtable's research and activities in the area of measuring product development and R&D effectiveness. This issue explores the practices and metrics used by winners of Management Roundtable's Product Development and R&D Metrics MVP Awards.

2-1 Scoring R&D Success: Metrics of Champions

As reported in our first issue of Measuring and Delivering R&D Value, Management Roundtable launched the Product Development and R&D Metrics MVP Awards to recognize outstanding individuals and their accomplishments. The inaugural winners have achieved impressive gains, both for their organizations and the field of product development.

Since metrics are clearly tied to their results, we decided to ask the MVPs what they measure. All acknowledged they have many metrics in their portfolio, but several stand out.

At Dow Chemical, it’s return on research. At Textron Fastening Systems, two are primarily tracked and monitored: new product sales growth and margin growth. For Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the “readiness” of the R&D activities process are measured through R&D gate reviews/criteria led by product development, with cross-functional involvement.

[...continued]

2-2 Speed-Based R&D at Dow Chemical

When it comes to R&D investment and value creation, few understand it better than Kurt W. Swogger, vice president of Plastics R&D for The Dow Chemical Company, who will receive a Product Development and R&D Metrics MVP Award *link in Chicago, Illinois, on November 8.

Swogger's speed-based R&D approach is a highly integrated philosophy and practice that links technology to both market needs and new opportunities. Operating elements include talent alignment and motivation, flexible allocation of resources, predictive modeling, parallel work processes, early customer involvement and a focus on results.

[...continued]

2-3 Process Initiatives Drive New Product Market Acceptance

K.L. Seshu Seshasai joined Textron Fastening Systems as executive vice president, technology, almost four years ago and immediately instituted a series of major initiatives that improved the Textron (Inc) subsidiary’s ability to drive for market accepted new products.

His process initiatives effectively helped change the company’s culture to one that focused on and supported the innovation and new product development central to the business, along with the introduction of new metrics that tracked performance. As he emphasizes, “Implementing these processes and following them by tracking the metrics that are the key drivers for fostering continued growth.”

Seshasai has developed a project ranking methodology which uses a single number, profits-to-investment ratio, which helps to rank projects and distribute resources without conflict between teams.

[...continued]

*Note: The winners of the MVP Awards will be recognized and honored on November 8, 2005 at Management Roundtable’s Tenth Annual Product Development Metrics Conference: Achieving the Full Value of R&D in Chicago. In the coming weeks we will be publishing more about the winners on www.PDMetrics.com and sharing details of their accomplishments in our continuing series on Measuring and Delivering R&D Value.

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