PLANNING AND CONTROL IN RESEARCH-AND-DEVELOPMENT

The use of planning and control techniques in R&D is not widespread. Few organisations have a comprehensive system that provides simple and useful feedback to help increase individual as well as organisation performance. A system which has been found to be useful in practice is described in this article. It is based on a combination of known techniques, and its power lies in the way in which it effectively uses information provided directly by project leaders. A major feature is its emphasis on forward rather than historical analysis. This provides the basis for better project management and resource planning at the organisational level.