The effectiveness of multi-criteria decision aid methodology A case study of R&D management

• Published in: European journal of innovation management Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 86 - 109
• Main Authors: Marafon, Alysson Diego, Ensslin, Leonardo, Lacerda, Rogério Tadeu de Oliveira, Ensslin, Sandra Rolim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.2015
• Subjects: Construction; Innovation; Knowledge management; Logic; Management; Markets; Methodology; Performance evaluation
• ISSN: 1460-1060
• DOI: 10.1108/EJIM-10-2013-0106

Purpose - The innovation expected by clients is identified as a business success factor of industrial companies in the current decade and the accountability of it is primarily attributable to Research and Development (R&D), which makes it a strategic topic for studies on the decision-making process. In light of this, the purpose of this paper is to present a decision aiding methodology used to support R&D management in the technology-based company, specialised in refrigeration solutions and world leader in the hermetic compressor market. Design/methodology/approach - It is an exploratory study and has deductive-inductive logic and uses a quail-quantitative approach. It uses the Knowledge Development Process Constructivist (ProKnow-C) to systemically revise the literature surrounding the theme in order to identify research opportunities in the subject and adopts the Multi-Criteria Decision Aiding Constructivist (MCDA-C) methodology as an instrument of organisational performance evaluation to fulfil the research opportunities identified. Findings - In the theoretical aspect, this research fulfilled the opportunities observed in recent and qualified literature about R&D performance evaluation. The paper also offers practical implications for the performance evaluation in R&D, since the methodology allowed the R&D manager to build knowledge to understand the consequences of his decisions in the criteria deemed important by himself. Originality/value - The importance of this work covers academic and practical interests, as it documents the application of MCDA-C and increases knowledge concerning R&D management, whilst developing a recurrent tool of decision aiding in the context of the company studied.