Value indicators and monitoring in innovative PDM: A grounded approach

Long-term success of firms depends on the efficiency of their management of R&D projects. However, there is a gap between standard economic and strategic indicators and the high uncertainty, complexity of commitments, and organizational issues that can be observed in the more innovative R&D projects. This paper presents the results of an eighteen-month study in the R&D departments of Renault SAS, which aimed to develop a new monitoring approach of R&D projects. In partnership with R&D teams and managers, a first empirical research on a sample of 64 projects assessed a series of hypothesis about what could be an appropriate monitoring for highly innovative projects. Then, a new monitoring system was built, based on a triangular approach of the project status: economic performance (value and reliability of the value), strategic potential indicators, organizational impact and resource assessment. This paper describes this model and associated tools, as well as the research methodology used to implement them. This monitoring system is now used routinely in the company.