Personnel and Project Evaluation

Traditionally, the success of R&D implementation is measured based on the traditional method of evaluation. These method are as follows:

• Number of patent. It takes a long time for any submitted patent to be assessed and accepted by the patent organisation. THe numbe ro fpatent filed does not necessarily be accepted for registration. In many circumstances, filing of the patent indicates the viability of the R&D project. 
• Number of publication. It is widely acceptable indicator for the success of R&D activities. however, for overall project evaluation purposes, the numbher of publications may not be practical due to long time taken for acceptance of the manuscripts for publicationm. Another reason is related to certain R&D work may take longer time to come up with publishable information but require similar high degree of expertise and commitment. 
• Award. This is one of the m,ethods to gauge achievement of R&D activitiy. Howver the result is not represent the overall evaluation of R&D and is questionable due to the inadequacy of scientific evaluation. 
• Recognition. It may be applicable although this practice is not representing the effort of all the participating scientists. Other reason is due to the fact that the recofnition is not a regular practice. 

THe overall evaluation should incorporate the holistic approrach to measure success of failure of R&D project and personnel involved. The approach consists of the folllowing: 

• Stakeholder/ customer evaluation. THe stakeholder/ customer may involve and give feedback about the project from the beginning when it was proposed. The stakeholder / customer endorsement on the viability of the proposeal should be used to merti the project as well as the project team memebrs. THey may participate by providing opinion about the porject progress and its direction. Their views can be used to judge not only the fate of the project but also the merti of the personnel ivnolved. THe KPI of each individual involved in the project should be prepared based on the designated responsibility . 
• Peer  review: COmpetent scientist in the respective field of reseach should also be invited to provide feedback on the implementation of the project. Peerscould be from the organisation itself, which is considered as internal peer, or external peers from other institutionw ithin or outside the country. Matters of interest include quality of the data generated using validated method, the suitability of protocol adopted, appropriateness of laboratory practice and data interpretation. THe feedback should be used by the relevant parties to merit the project as well as to gauge performance of the personnel involved. it is a common practice in Malaysia particularly in the institutes of hjigher learning to strongly consider the oipinion of external peers to merit personnel for promotional exercise. 
• Performance measures. Performance measures refer to the traditional method of performance evaluiation that has been previously descirbed, which include number of patent filed, publication, award and recognition. 

THe items briefly mentioned in the holistic approach oif R&D evaluation may be considered for the formulation of KPI of the three m,ain bodies of R&D, namely researchers, projects and institutions. Table 5.1 Listing examples of items to be included in the KPI.