1 Activities for Structuring an Internal Project Management Guideline System at NEDO November 4, 2006 Evaluation 2006 American Evaluation Association Kazuyuki TAKADA New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization

2 Subject of Presentation  NEDO’s strategic national R&D project management and evaluation based on a case-study database Accountability Project Reports G u i d e l i n e DoSee Plan Project Plans Evaluation reports

3 What is NEDO?  An institutional R&D funding and management organization - No laboratories, no researchers  Japan’s largest public R&D management organization for promoting the development of advanced industrial, environmental, new energy and energy conservation technologies - Annual budget of about $2 billion  Approximately 140 projects undertaken each year - Efficient and strategic R&D that is process oriented

4 Problematic Issues Has NEDO been able to be strategic? – Maybe not. Why?  Difficulty in coordinating people in different positions and with different motivations –Coordination among industrial, academic and governmental sectors is a challenge  Know-how to manage NEDO R&D projects is variable –Management know-how often depends on individual persons  Past evaluation reports are scattered –No methodology to inform new project participants of historical evaluation checkpoints

5 How Can NEDO Become More Strategic? -Trial Activities I. Systematize a concept for NEDO’s R&D project management –To share the same terminology among NEDO personnel II. Compile management know-how –To share experience that NEDO has accumulated III. Provide checklists to all NEDO personnel –To not repeat the mistakes of the past NEDO R&D Project Management Guideline

6 I. Systematization  Define lifecycle of NEDO’s R&D projects – Six phases 1 st Develop concept Review 2 nd Survey and estimate Review 3 rd Plan Review 4 th Structure project formation (Select players) Review 5 th Carry out project Review 6 th Prepare next action plan Review

7 I. Systematization  Define multi checkpoints for NEDO R&D projects I. Positioning and Necessity of the Project A. Necessity of NEDO support due to market failure B. Contribution to Japanese industrial competitiveness or solving problems related to energy security and the global environment C. Image of practical application D. Impact of achievement of the project’s goal (outcome) II. Definition of the Project’s Goal E. Setting a challenging project goal F. Reflection of user needs in the project’s goal G. Clarification of the project’s goal H. Logical setting of themes, which structure the project, through segmentation of the project’s goal III. Research Approach and Planning I. Clarification of technological problems to be solved J. Consideration of plural research approaches and selection of an adequate approach K. Planning of the project’s schedule and budget estimate considering uncertainty, based on the selected research approach IV. Selecting Players and Appointing the Project Leader L. Selection of appropriate players who intend practical application and have suitable research resources M. Setting up an adequate project formation N. Appointing a suitable project leader O. Empowerment of the project leader V. Supervision of Progress and Flexible Modification of the Project Plan P. Timely monitoring of the surrounding circumstances and progress of the project, and flexible modification of the project plan regarding positioning, goal, approach, formation, etc. when necessary VI. Confirmation of Players’ Intention of Practical Application Q. Supporting players’ activities for practical application when necessary

8 II. Compilation  Collected historical information Interviews of past project managers Evaluation reports for past projects Results of follow-up monitoring of projects  Extracted information and used it to prepare “Cases” –73 cases covering 38 good practices  Cases prepared to correspond to checkpoints –Enables understanding of the significance of checkpoints

9 III. Presentation  Prepared checklists for each phase –By selecting individual checkpoints –By considering what is important for each phase –By considering past experience  Supplied checklists for each phase to personnel –NEDO personnel can now understand what they should do during each project phase

10 III. Presentation Phases 1st Develop concept 2nd Survey and estimate 3rd Plan 4th Structure project formation (Select players) 5th Carry out project 6th Prepare next action plan Multi checkpoints I. Positioning and Necessity of the project A. Necessity of NEDO support due to market failure B. Contribution to Japanese industrial competitiveness or solving problems related to energy security and the global environment C. Image of practical application D. Impact of achievement of the project’s goal (outcome) II. Definition of the Project’s Goal E. Setting a challenging project goal F. Reflection of user needs in the project’s goal G. Clarification of the project’s goal H. Logical setting of themes, which structure the project, through segmentation of the project’s goal III. Research Approach and Planning I. Clarification of technological problems to be solved J. Consideration of plural research approaches and selection of an adequate approach K. Planning of the project’s schedule and budget estimate considering uncertainty, based on the selected research approach IV. Selecting Players and Appointing the Project Leader L. Selection of appropriate players who intend practical application and have suitable research resources M. Setting up an adequate project formation N. Appointing a suitable project leader O. Empowerment of the project leader V. Supervision of Progress and Flexible Modification of the Project Plan P. Timely monitoring of the surrounding circumstances and progress of the project, and flexible modification of the project plan regarding positioning, goal, approach, formation, etc. when necessary VI. Confirmation of Players’ Intention of Practical Application Q. Supporting players’ efforts for practical application when necessary Checklist

11 Image of the Guideline  Checklists and cases are compiled together  Available as a booklet and through intranet access Chapter II. Checklists for each phase 優れたプロジェクト担当者の実践例 Chapter III. Cases 成功に導くマネジメント例 教訓とすべきマネジメント例 Descripti on Case Checkpoin t Guideline contents are confidential

12 Verification User Survey Results Usefulness of the current guideline Sufficiently useful25% Useful with a few modifications58% It needs many modifications8% It isn’t useful0% Cooperation regarding future modification Yes40% No7% Neither (I don’t know)34%

13 Conclusion  NEDO has just begun to develop an internal system for appropriate project management based on the guideline in order to connect evaluation results to strategic planning  The use of Cases is welcomed by NEDO personnel –The use of only checklists was greatly disliked.  It is important that NEDO allow its personnel to share their know-how through the guideline  In order for NEDO to become more strategically-oriented, it should consider adding program management, portfolio management, resource management, etc. to the guideline.