APPLYING QUALITY PRACTICES TO RESEARCH-AND-DEVELOPMENT

Overview: The quality movement has found successive applications in manufacturing, marketing and new product engineering. Recently, the requirement by many clients that suppliers be certified by third parties and the need to improve the performance of R&D raises the question: Are quality approaches applicable to R&D? Our argument is that not only is the quality movement applicable to R&D but it brings a new mindset to the task of effectively managing R&D. Managers are greatly concerned about effectiveness, but they also stand to gain enormously from R&D departments that function with high levels of diligence and awareness. A study of 45 multinationals identified 10 practices that were used most often in managing for quality in R&D, and revealed that the penetration of quality practices in R&D was uneven among the 45 firms.