Goal setting for improvement in product development performance of organizations

Abstract

Companies have been constantly trying for ways and means to improve R&D performance as it is one of the most important competitive advantage tools of an organization. Literature review on R&D performance improvement suggests that, lot of focus is on measuring R&D performance and on specific problem solving approaches like six sigma and lean. Frameworks like capability maturity model integration (CMMI) and product development self-assessment tool (PDSAT) provide holistic performance assessment, but fall short on providing clear guidance for performance improvement interventions. Goal setting theory, a proven theory that is widely applied in individual performance improvement has got limited attention in R&D performance improvement approaches and frameworks. Practitioners in the industry point to the need for goal setting in R&D and identify that as a gap in current performance improvement methodologies. This thesis attempts to fill this gap by proposing DEAL framework, a practical approach for defining future goals in R&D performance improvement efforts.