R&D Portfolio Evaluation
1995 - 1997
Deliverables
Objective: Develop techniques for choosing the optimum portfolio of R&D projects
A subcommittee was formed to consider algorithms for choosing an optimum portfolio of R&D projects under different business circumstances. In cooperation with McMaster University, a series of interviews was conducted in several member companies to develop a new portfolio-management process, described in two RTM articles. Further work in cooperation with the Product Management and Development Association (PDMA) resulted in a set of "anchored scales" for measuring technical and commercial risk in R&D portfolios. The anchored scales were introduced in a Special Interest Session at the 1997 IRI Fall Meeting and issued to the IRI membership in 1998. A workshop was held during the 1999 IRI Annual Meeting to discuss selected "anchored scales" for gauging critical aspects of technical and commercial uncertainty that are particularly relevant to discovery research.