INDUSTRIAL R-AND-D PROGRAM-EVALUATION TECHNIQUES

U.S. industry's interest in and implementation of research and develop ment (RB(D) program evaluation techniques has been evolving throughout the twentieth century. Due in large part to the amount of funds corpo rations ore now investing in R&D programs, evaluation techniques conti nue to become increasingly important. In this article, tire history of R&D and its evaluation within the 3M Company will be used as an examp le of this progression. The article discusses how U.S. industrial R&D has moved from individual or few-person efforts earlier this century t o today's high-investment, large-scale team approaches. A review of th e most frequently used U.S. industrial R&D program evaluation methods is included Among these are scoring methods, cost/benefit analysis and risk analysis. The largest part of the article is a description of th e 3M technical audit process. In addition to discussing the procedural and scoring elements of the technical audit, emphasis is placed on ho w 3M attains a variety of benefits from the process. The article concl udes with a summary of other activities that fake place in 3M's Techno logy Analysis Department. These projects involve measuring R&D product ivity and assessing the technological health (present and future) of 3 M.