Measuring R&D Productivity

Measuring R&D productivity is a significant challenge for organizations. Understanding how R&D spending yields value would help organizations target spending and avoid unproductive overspending. Using the amount of spending on R&D as a criterion for value is a circular argument for performing such measurements. The other most frequently used measure of R&D productivity, the number of patents an organization is awarded, has significant problems of its own. Research quotient (RQ) has emerged as a significant techniques to perform such measurements as it has benefits for research executives, providing a tool they can use to establish their optimal budgets and to allocate resources appropriately among divisions.