Die Studie wird in fünf Teile unterteilt: Das erste Kapitel beschäftigt sich mit Patentanmeldungen und geförderten Patenten im USPTO, WIPO, und EPO. In diesem Kapitel wird die Korrelation zwischen dem BIP und der länderspezifischen Patentanzahl analysiert. Das zweite Kapitel gibt einen Überblick über die Literatur über Patente in MEDLINE. In diesem Kapitel wird eine szientometrische Analyse durchgeführt, damit die Entwicklung der Patentliteratur in MEDLINE über den Zeitraum von 1965 bis 2005 quantitativ gemessen werden kann. Das dritte Kapitel befasst sich mit der Literatur über Patente im SCI. In diesem Kapitel werden alle Dokumente, die vom SCI über den Zeitraum 1965 bis 2005 als “Patents“ indexiert wurden, unter die Lupe genommen. Das vierte Kapitel analysiert die Patenten, die im SCI zitiert werden. Das fünfte Kapitel analysiert die Anzahl der Literaturhinweise (Referenzen) pro Veröffentlichung im SCI über den Zeitraum 1970-2005. In diesem Hinblick wurde eine Gesamtzahl von 10,000 Dokumenten pro Jahr ausgesucht sowie der Bedeutungswert von Nennungen pro Zeitschrift berechnet. Die Analyse der Daten ergab: Die USA sind das führende Land bezüglich der Erstellung und der Zulassung von Patenten, gleichermaßen gefolgt von Japan und Deutschland. Die Halbwertszeit der Zitierung von Patenten beträgt seit 1994 konstant 8,1 Jahre. Das ist eine 41% längere Zitierungsrate gegenüber den allgemeinen wissenschaftlichen Dokumenten im SCI. Es gibt eine lineare Korrelation zwischen der Zahl von Literaturhinweisen (Referenzen) in einem Journal, wie sie im SCI erfasst sind, und der Wahrscheinlichkeit zitiert zu werden. Die Anzahl der Literaturhinweise (Referenzen) pro Veröffentlichung zwischen 1970 und 2005 im SCI ist ständig angestiegen. Die Selbstzitation von Zeitschriften bei einer steigenden Zahl von Verweisen beeinflusst die Steigerung des Impact Factor im SCI. Die Leitartikelpolitik der Sprachen wurde in der MEDLINE und im SCI geändert. / This study is divided into five sections. The first section consists of patent applications and granted patents issued by USPTO, WIPO), and EPO. In this section the relationship between the GDP and country’s patent quantity is analysed. The second section analysis the patent literature in MEDLINE. In this section a scientometric analysis is performed to assess the quantitative trend of patent literature in MEDLINE throughout 1965-2005. The third section analysis the patent literature in the SCI. In this section all documents indexed as a topic of “patents” in the SCI throughout 1965-2005 are analysed. The fourth section analysis the citations to the patent documents indexed in the SCI, and illustrate the average number of cited references per paper for patent citing documents. The fifth section analysis the references per paper in the SCI through 1970-2005. The Analyses of data showed: The USA is the leading country filing and granting patents followed by Japan and Germany respectively. The half-life of citations to the patent-documents is 41% higher than the half-life of citations to the general scientific documents in the SCI. The number of references per paper from 1970 to 2005 has steadily increased. The rough constant percentage of self-citation of journals and the growing increase of references per paper led to the absolute growing number of self-citations and to the increase of the Impact Factor of the citing journals in the SCI. The editorial policy of languages is being changed in MEDLINE and in the SCI. The consideration of policy makers in these databases have been focused on the literature of science in English. There was a tendency in the last decades towards collaboration in scientific publishing with American authors that can be observed in the SCI with authors from different countries.

本論文之研究動機乃基於個人在醫藥相關領域多年的工作經驗，了解台灣製藥業現正處於內需小、廠商多、競爭愈來愈激烈且相互分食之市場環境，加上在現行醫療健保體制及政府相關政策(如cGMP制度)的影響下，尚需面對台灣未來加入WTO可能之衝擊，台灣製藥廠商如何依公司資源優勢尋求聯盟，以提升競爭力，使得企業能夠永續經營，是本研究之動機所在。基於上述之研究動機，本研究以台灣製藥業者為對象，探討下列的問題：(1)聯盟動機與聯盟型態之關係；(2)組織特性與聯盟型態、聯盟管理之關係；(3)聯盟型態與聯盟管理、聯盟績效之關係；(4)聯盟管理與聯盟績效之關係。本研究欲達成之目的有：(1)解析出台灣製藥業所採行之策略聯盟方式，及其如何經由不同之聯盟，以提升企業競爭力；(2)藉由本研究之發現，提供產業內的其他業者於日後進行策略聯盟時之參考。 本論文之研究架構，係由個人之實務經驗，加上參考相關之文獻推導而成，並依架構中各變數之關係設計出問卷，以問卷與訪談併用之方式，鎖定台灣製藥業四家知名企業為訪談對象，推展出四大類命題：聯盟動機、組織特性、聯盟型態及聯盟管理。 經由第五章之個案分析發現，台灣製藥廠商之聯盟方式主要以研究發展聯盟、生產聯盟及共同行銷聯盟為主；在策略聯盟中以降低風險及資源互補為主要動機；另在分析過程中亦發現，學理所稱聯盟管理為影響聯盟績效之重要因素，此點對台灣製藥業而言亦得出相同結果。研究中同時發現，台灣製藥廠商雖已逐漸重視國際化課題，然國際化發展策略及整體規畫仍嫌不足。 在研究過程中，已儘量追求結構之完整，逐步撰寫、推導對台灣製藥業現行策略聯盟之分析，惟仍不免有許多主客觀因素，形成本研究之限制。在後續研究上，建議後續研究者可針對本土規模相當之大型製藥公司間如何進行合作、研擬製藥業相互專業分工或轉型之道、或分析國際化的最佳步驟與途徑等，為台灣製藥業找出值得發展的新契機。

新創科技公司源源不斷的產生，是經濟發展的主要動力。美國1995年後崛起的公司，其中大部份為科技公司，所創造的股東價值是《財星》500大企業的二倍。台灣新竹科學園區，20年以來成立了300多家公司，創造出台灣GDP約10%的產值，新創科技公司之重要性可見一斑。 新創科技公司具有新創公司及科技公司兩者的特性，其營運不確定性高，創業者的創業精神及意志力是公司成敗關鍵，建立團隊、資金募集、及產品研發是創業者最主要的工作。 由於資本市場與產業市場快速的變化，新創科技公司在資金募集及研發管理上，面臨從所未有的變局。過去一年，在矽谷有上千家新創科技公司因資金募集不順或研發管理失利，而關門大吉。這是矽谷從所未有的現象。 究竟新創科技公司的資金募集及研發管理，有何關鍵要素以及資金募集及研發管理二者績效之關聯性如何，本研究以矽谷及台灣19家新創科技公司為研究對象，所包含產業有IC設計業，光電業，光通訊業，IC設備業，醫療設備業，及電子材料業等，獲得『影響新創科技公司資金募集及研發管理績效之關鍵要素』，以及二者之關聯性之結論如下： 一、資金募集 根據文獻研讀，影響新創科技公司資金募集績效的關鍵要素有：創業團隊能力因素，環境因素，及報酬與風險因素；而根據個案研究結果，創業者必須在不同發展階段，掌握不同的關鍵要素，分述如下： １　種子期 (1) 完善的營運計劃 (2) 募資時機的掌握 (3) 創業者所具備達成超高報酬率之條件 (4) 具號召力股東的參與 (5) 明確了解募資對象的決策特質，投資偏好、及投資策略 ２　創建期 除了種子期之關鍵要素之外，另產品要獲得關鍵客戶之認可，研發進度要等合原設定目標，關鍵股東或董事對募資的持續支持，亦均為關鍵要素。 ３　擴張期 公司商品化及量產能力，行銷、財務管理能力之優劣為此時期資金募集成敗之關鍵要素。 二、研發管理 根據文獻探討，影響新創科技公司研發管理績效的關鍵要素有：產品定位，外部資源運用及整合能力，內部資源管理及整合能力。另經個案研究發現，新創科技公司因研發資源有限，所以要研發什麼產品，不但要有方向感（即產品定位），同時尚要能因應技術及市場的變化，降低研發風險，所以要有產品組合之規劃。且創業者不但要具備良好技術背景，同時要藉創業精神及領導力，來吸引優秀人才加入『前途未卜』的新創科技公司。另外，新創公司之研發進度往往落後於設定目標，所以利害關係人（董事、股東、顧客、供應商、及員工）的耐心支持，亦是非常重要的。歸納個案研究發現下列五項影響研發管理績效關鍵要素： 1　明確的產品定位及產品組合 2　良好的研發專案管理能力 3　CEO或CTO應具良好的技術背景及領導力，以吸引優良技術人才加入 4　公司內外部研發資源良好之整合能力 5　利害關係人的支持 三、資金募集及研發管理二者績效之關聯性 依個案研究分析結果，對於二者之關聯性可獲得下述之結論： 1. 研發管理績效不佳者，資金募集通常難以成功，而研發管理具良好績效者，其資金募集較易成功。 2. 資金募集績效良好者，必須具備良好之研發管理，而資金募集績效不佳者，未必研發管理績效不佳。 / High-tech start-ups are the powerhouses of economic development. The total market value of high-tech start-ups that launched after 1995 is twice of that of Fortune 500 companies combined. The Hsinchu Science Park of Taiwan has incubated some 300 companies since her inception 20 years ago. To date these 300 companies generate in total a revenue of about 10% value of Taiwan’s GDP. High-tech start-ups have the attributes of start-ups and high-techs. As start-ups, they face so many uncertainties along the way. And as high-techs, they face dynamic market environments and short life cycle of products. Only through the founders’ entrepreneurship and strong motivation, can the high-tech start-ups survive and prosper. Team building, fund raising and R&D are the main jobs of every founder. Recently, because of the unpredictable change of capital markets and industry markets, the high-tech start-ups have experienced a great challenge in fund raising and R&D management. For the past year alone in Silicon Valley, there have been more than 1000 high-tech start-ups filed Chapter 11 or Chapter 7, out of the failure of funding or R&D. A cruel scene has never been seen for the past two decades. OBJECTIVE The objectives of this thesis intend to explore the key success factors (KSFs) of fund raising and R&D management for high-tech start-ups, and the relationship between the success of fund raising and R&D management. This study was conducted by using case study methodology covering 19 samples of high-tech start-ups. The accidental sampling was collected from 9 samples located in the Silicon Valley and 10 in Taiwan, with industries ranging from IC design, opto-electronics, opto-communications, IC equipment, health care equipment to electronics components. The data was obtained by interviewing the top management of these companies and venture capitalist to validate the information. CONCLUSION The result of this study found that the KSFs of fund raising are as follows, 1. According to the research papers and readings, three key factors determine the success of fund raising--- the core competence of the management team, the economic, industrial and social environment, and the investment return vs. risk. 2. This study shows that the KSFs are related to the maturity of high-tech start-ups’ development levels. They are not all the same. In embryo stage, the KSFs are the solid business plan, the right timing of fund raising, the team’s track record, and the knowledge to know the prospective investor’s decision criteria, investment preferences and investment strategy. In early stage, the KSFs should add two more points; one is that the products shall have design-wins from strategic customers with the achievement of milestone complying with schedule, the other is the continuing support from strategic investors. In expansionary stage, the KSFs are the products’ marketability and manufacturability. Also the marketing ability and financial ability are no less important. Moreover, the key factors affect the success of R&D management as follows, 1. In the research papers and readings, three determinants to the success of R&D management are the products’ positioning, the application and integration ability of external resources, as well as the management and integration ability of internal resources. 2. In the analysis of this study, the KSFs, emphasize more on the sides of strategic thinking and founders’ entrepreneurship as follows: a. The right product positioning and products portfolio; b. The good R&D project management skills; 　c. The founders’ good technical background and leadership to attract top-notched technical staff to join; d. The good integration ability of internal and external resources; e. The full support of shareholders. Above all, regarding the relationship between the success of fund raising and R&D management, the poor performance of R&D will, in general, leads to the failure of fund raising, whilst the good performance of R&D will help the success of fund raising. However, one with the success of fund raising, must couple with the good performance of R&D, and one with the failure of fund raising, not necessarily goes with poor performance of R&D.

This paper focuses on leadership problems and possibilities regarding creativity in a specific R&D organization. This is done with the help of a model consisting of four domains of special interest for R&D leaders. A survey in the form of personal interviews was conducted with leaders and staff members of two R&D sections in the organization. The analysis pointed towards problems on work load and stress issues. Furthermore the organizational structure of the two sections provided a discussion on optimal structural build‐up in order to maximize creativity. Trust issues arose because of the apparent use of control by upper management as described by lower level leaders and the employees. Indications showed that the trust issues put up obstacles for learning and dealing with failure. On the other hand the relationships between section management and staff were perceived as good. Also the ground works of a good creative work was laid with the trusting relationships between fellow professionals within the group.

Questo lavoro intende analizzare la correlazione tra innovazione delle imprese e capital sociale, misurato da indicatori classici (come la partecipazione politica e le attività nel tempo libero) e da indicatori maggiormente legati alla dimensione aziendale (come accordi e cooperazioni). L’analisi viene fatta sia per l’Italia che per il Regno Unito attraverso l’uso della Community Innovation Survey 4, la survey europea sull’innovazione e la R&S nelle imprese per i dati su innovazione e capital sociale aziendale. Inoltre vengono utilizzate l’Indagine Multiscopo 2000 per l’Italia e l’Indice di Deprivazione per l’Inghilterra come misure di capitale sociale classico. Infine viene proposta una comparazione dei risultati per i due paesi per l’analisi sul capitale sociale aziendale. Questa comparazione è riletta alla luce di più generali considerazioni sui due differenti sistemi produttivi ed economici. / This work would try to test the correlation between innovation in firms and social capital, measured by classic indicators (like political participation, leisure and activities) and more corporate indicators (like agreements and collaborations). The analysis is carried out for Italy and UK and we use the Community Innovation Survey 4, the European survey on innovation and R&D in the firms, for the data on innovation and corporate social capital. We use the Multipurpose Survey 2000 for Italy and the Index of Deprivation for England like measures of classic social capital. We further try a comparison of the results between the two countries for the analysis on corporate social capital. This comparison is finally referred to more general issues like the two different productive and economic systems.

宏碁在 2005 到2010 創造了爆發性營業額成長，這個高度成長已超過一般公司的表現；也引起 Dell 和 HP 研究 Acer 的威脅分析。每個公司都有它們的核心競爭能耐，去贏得在PC業界傑出表現的方程式。此論文動機是去發覺出真正Acer內部贏的方程式，看看這個公司在過去五年來；如何得到手提電腦中最高成長的市佔率。 有三個研究目的，此論文將研究: (1) 是什麼全球策略帶領新產品開發能力與技術創新? (2) 有什麼主要的新產品開發流程與系統，導致最低開發成本及最快的開發時程? (3) 客戶的評論與回饋如何影響產品計畫與管理方式。總之，本研究將找出Acer核心競爭力，在2005 到2010快速成長的五年。 此研究架構包含三的項目: (1) 全球策略: 全球，事業，和產品層次。(2) NPD 新產品開發流程的組織、流程、與系統。(3) 技術創新和其管理能力。我們用Acer這個擁有16%全球PC市佔公司來探究與其質量研究 。首要資料得到、收集、消化 ，都是從各個相關部門來增加資料正確性；如業務、行銷、產品管理、研發、與品質服務。但有些資料及表格式內容則由許多資深內部同仁的問卷調查和他們各別的想法。同時，研討最高階管理者，為何深刻影響全球資源整頓與分配? 看到內部NPD組織與不斷研發改善流程結合?最後，也看出什麼專案應包含那種NPD 系統的優化? 這本論文共發現了十個研究發現如下: （１）Acer的全球事業開發策略目標已經清楚定義事業團隊與NPD 新產品研發團隊相關工作職責（２）Acer 的全球外包策略也幫助公司的營運效率，也加強產品設計品質；藉由結合外部優勢資源與其管理能力。(3) Acer 管理層不斷推動的成本領導策略，來保持全球產品競爭力。(4) 四次在 2006-2009 M&A 事件，產生快速市佔提昇，但也付出相當整合資源投入。(5) 專案矩陣組織是最通用的，也讓最高管理者，快速安排適當開發資源，來控制時間、成本、和規格。(6) 在NPD開發中，簡化系統模組共同設計，來節省開發成本，也能創造市場中更有彈性產品。(7) 一個簡化的公司，藉由不斷流程精化與專案效能管理來達到最佳NPD境地。(8) 在不同的管理和功能團隊，都有導入NPD跨平台快速新技術能力。(9) 整合全球法務系統與資源，加強法務專利管理能力，並高度結合研發團隊與NPD 設計工程。(10) 聽取客戶端價值聲音，以改善產品規劃和品質，提昇其競爭力。 最後，有些實際有效建議，將會給在PC產業界事業和產品管理團隊思考策略管理計劃；並如果最佳化內部NPD系統去調整其各個不同層級研發流程、專案與組織的管理能耐和技術創新。這些建議將促使公司具有高度國際PC競爭力。 關鍵字: 宏碁 戴爾 惠普 新產品開發 核心競爭力 全球策略 技術創新 成本領導 研發 企業倂購 專案矩陣組織 出貨單元 / Acer has made rampaging business growth during 2005 – 2010. The outstanding and surpassing performance was an unusual case that induced Dell and HP to conduct Acer analysis projects how to react to the Acer’s threatens. Each company would have its core competence or competitive capability to make it a winning formula to attain breakthroughs in the PC industry. The motivation of this study is to figure out what real winning formula inside to keep Acer obtaining the highest market share and growth in laptop sales for the continuous five years till 2010 Q3. Three objectives will be studied in this thesis: (1) what are the global strategies that lead to new product development capability and technology innovation? (2) What are the key process and systems of new product development (NPD) that result in the lowest development cost and fastest development lead time? (3) How do customers’ comments and feedbacks impact product planning and management? In summary, this study is to explore Acer’s core competence that results in business rampaging growth during the years 2005 to 2010. Research framework of this study consists of three constructs: (1) Global strategies: global, business and product level, (2) NPD organizations, processes and systems, (3) Technology innovation and management capabilities. As an exploratory study, qualitative research is adopted to conduct case study on the firm – Acer, which has attained 16% global PC market share in 2010. For data collection and digestion, primary data were obtained through multiple sources of evidence and findings in order to increase its validity. Some data came from internal business and product development documents especially on sales, marketing, product management, R&D and quality service. There are other data sources such as articles’ tabular content, case study database, and senior colleagues’ notes and opinions to the above-mentioned questions. Why do top-management strategies of a corporate deeply influence allocation and integration of global resources? What does internal NPD organizational adaption should be engaged with continuous improving design process? Which projects could attain optimization of the NPD systems will be analyzed as well. Findings of this study are as below: 1. Acer business goal develops varies of global strategies that clearly define task ownerships between business teams and NPD teams. 2. Acer’s global outsourcing strategy may assist with company’s operational efficiency and enhance product design quality by leveraging talented resources with their capable management skill. 3. Acer cost leadership strategy driven by top management stays the sustainability of global competitiveness. 4. The four times M&A events increased market share significantly but took heavy resources to the companies being acquired during the years of 2006-2009. 5. Project matrix organization is most common one that allows top management to allocate capable development resources to control projects in schedule, cost, and specification. 6. Simplification with modularity of system design during NPD is to save development cost and create flexibility of product SKU to the market. 7. A learning company like Acer may improve internal NPD design defects by continuously taking process refinement and project management to achieve the best NPD practice. 8. A fast adaptability of new technology design in platform during NPD for different managerial and function teams to perform technology innovation. 9. To leverage global legal experienced resource and system to enhance legal management capability to closely engaged with R&D during NPD design works. 10. Listen to the value voices of customers for product planning and quality improvement may play a key refinement process to sustain product in competitiveness. At the end, practical suggestions will be given for companies in PC industry on business and product strategies management plan and how to optimize internal NPD system to refine process, project and organization by different level of management capabilities and technology innovation. That could render a company highly competitive in a global PC market place. Keywords: Acer, Dell, HP, NPD, core competence, global strategies, technology innovation, cost leadership, R&D, M&A, project matrix organization, SKU

During the last two decades, there have been a number of policy and legislative changes in respect of South Africa’s intellectual property (IP) and the national system of innovation (NSI). In 2012, a Ministerial Review of the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) landscape in South Africa made recommendations to improve the STI landscape and effectively the national system of innovation. The study provides a critical review of drafts of the national IP policy published in 2013 as well as the IP Framework released in 2016 for public comment. The review of the IP and the NSI are within the context of the National Development Plan (NDP), which outlines South Africa’s desired developmental goals. South Africa is part of the BRICS group of countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). The South African economy is characterised by a desire to move away from being dependent on resources and commodities, to becoming a more knowledge based and innovation driven economy. It is hoped that such a move would assist the country to address some of the social and economic development challenges facing South Africa, as captured in the NDP. South Africa has a functioning IP system, but its relationship with South Africa’s development trajectory is not established. More particularly, the extent to which the IP system relates to the innovation system and how these two systems must be aligned to enable South Africa to transition successfully from a country based on the production of primary resources and associated commodity-based industries to a viable knowledge-based economy is unclear. The Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) provides that IP must contribute to innovation and to transfer of technology and knowledge in a manner that is conducive to social and economic welfare. Certain provisions set out the foundations of intellectual property systems within the context of each member state. This study has thus explored the complex, complementary and sometimes contested relationships between IP and innovation, with particular emphasis on the potential of an intellectual property system to stimulate innovation and foster social and economic development. The study has also analysed the interconnectivity of IP and innovation with other WTO legal instruments, taking into account South Africa’s positioning within the globalised economy and in particular the BRICS group of countries. The research involved a critical review of South Africa’s IP and innovation policies, as well as relevant legislation, instruments, infrastructure, IP and innovation landscape, and relationship with international WTO legal instruments, in addition to its performance, given the developmental priorities and the globalised economy. The research documents patenting trends by South Africans using European Patent Office (EPO), Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), United States Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO) databases over the period 1996-2015. A comparative analysis of patenting trends amongst BRICS group of countries has also been documented. The study also documents new findings, observations and insights regarding South Africa’s IP and innovation systems. Some of these, particularly in relation to higher education and research institutions, are directly attributable to the Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act. More particularly, the public institutions are becoming relevant players in the NSI and are responsible for growth of certain technology clusters, in particular, biotechnology. At the same time, the study makes findings of a decline of private sector participation in patenting as well as R&D investment over the 20-year period. Recommendations are included regarding specific interventions to ensure coherence between the IP and innovation systems. Such coherence and alignment should strengthen the systems’ ability to stimulate innovation and foster inclusive development and competitiveness, which are relevant for addressing South Africa’s socio-economic development priorities. / Mercantile Law / LL. D.

Research and Development engineering is at the corner stone of humanity’s evolution. It is perceived to be a systematic creative process which ultimately improves the living standard of a society through the creation of new applications and products. The commercial paradigm that governs project selection, resource allocation and market penetration prevails when the focus shifts from pure research to applied research. Furthermore, the road to success through commercialisation is difficult for most inventors, especially in a vast and isolated country such as Australia which is located a long way from wealthy and developed economies. While market leading products are considered unique, the actual process to achieve these products is essentially the same; progressing from an idea, through development to an outcome (if successful). Unfortunately, statistics indicate that only 3% of ‘ideas’ are significantly successful, 4% are moderately successful, and the remainder ‘evaporate’ in that form (Michael Quinn, Chairman, Innovation Capital Associates Pty Ltd). This study demonstrates and analyses two techniques developed by the author which reduce uncertainty in the engineering design and development phase of new product development and therefore increase the probability of a successful outcome. This study expands the existing knowledge of the engineering design and development stage in the new product development process and is couched in the identification of practical methods, which have been successfully used to develop new products by Australian Small Medium Enterprise (SME) Excel Technology Group Pty Ltd (ETG). Process theory is the term most commonly used to describe scientific study that identifies occurrences that result from a specified input state to an output state, thus detailing the process used to achieve an outcome. The thesis identifies relevant material and analyses recognised and established engineering processes utilised in developing new products. The literature identified that case studies are a particularly useful method for supporting problem-solving processes in settings where there are no clear answers or where problems are unstructured, as in New Product Development (NPD). This study describes, defines, and demonstrates the process of new product development within the context of historical product development and a ‘live’ case study associated with an Australian Government START grant awarded to Excel Technology Group in 2004 to assist in the development of an image-based vehicle detection product. This study proposes two techniques which reduce uncertainty and thereby improve the probability of a successful outcome. The first technique provides a predicted project development path or forward engineering plan which transforms the initial ‘fuzzy idea’ into a potential and achievable outcome. This process qualifies the ‘fuzzy idea’ as a potential, rationale or tangible outcome which is within the capability of the organisation. Additionally, this process proposes that a tangible or rationale idea can be deconstructed in reverse engineering process in order to create a forward engineering development plan. A detailed structured forward engineering plan reduces the uncertainty associated with new product development unknowns and therefore contributes to a successful outcome. This is described as the RETRO technique. The study recognises however that this claim requires qualification and proposes a second technique. The second technique proposes that a two dimensional spatial representation which has productivity and consumed resources as its axes, provides an effective means to qualify progress and expediently identify variation from the predicted plan. This spatial representation technique allows a quick response which in itself has a prediction attribute associated with directing the project back onto its predicted path. This process involves a coterminous comparison between the predicted development path and the evolving actual project development path. A consequence of this process is verification of progress or the application of informed, timely and quantified corrective action. This process also identifies the degree of success achieved in the engineering design and development phase of new product development where success is defined as achieving a predicted outcome. This spatial representation technique is referred to as NPD Mapping. The study demonstrates that these are useful techniques which aid SMEs in achieving successful new product outcomes because the technique are easily administered, measure and represent relevant development process related elements and functions, and enable expedient quantified responsive action when the evolving path varies from the predicted path. These techniques go beyond time line representations as represented in GANTT charts and PERT analysis, and represent the base variables of consumed resource and productivity/technical achievement in a manner that facilitates higher level interpretation of time, effort, degree of difficulty, and product complexity in order to facilitate informed decision making. This study presents, describes, analyses and demonstrates an SME focused engineering development technique, developed by the author, that produces a successful new product outcome which begins with a ‘fuzzy idea’ in the mind of the inventor and concludes with a successful new product outcome that is delivered on time and within budget. Further research on a wider range of SME organisations undertaking new product development is recommended.

Performance measurements have been described as a tool by which management can communicate expected standards of behavior as well as a shared meaning among members regarding the intended direction of the firm. In parallel, the organizational identity field relies on the premise that members can answer the question “who are we as an organization?” through a sense of shared understanding. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implications a performance measurement system has on the employees’ perception of “who we are“, related to the theoretical framework of organizational identity. This paper utilizes a qualitative research method, a case-based approach of a Swedish life science company which is conducted in an exploratory manner. The case company is chosen due to its contextual setting regarding the newly implemented performance measurement system, along with the inherent characteristics of the industry in general, which is typically considered to be incongruent with such quantitative measurements. The empirical data is collected through eight interviews with members from the chosen case company, as well as through internal documents describing its performance measurement system. The authors propose a revised theoretical framework in which performance measurements and organizational identity are investigated through a conceptual model which explores their dynamic relationship. The findings reinforce well-known ideas of performance measurements and organizational identity, along with providing new insights on the dynamics between them. Keywords: Organizational Identity, Performance Measurement System, Performance Management, Identity-Dynamics