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Best Practices in Assessment of Research and Development Organizations (2012)

Chapter: Appendix H Questions Pertaining to Assessment of Leadership and Management

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix H Questions Pertaining to Assessment of Leadership and Management." National Research Council. 2012. Best Practices in Assessment of Research and Development Organizations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13529.
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Appendix H

Questions Pertaining to Assessment of Leadership and Management

Chapter 3, entitled, “Assessing Management,” includes a discussion of the assessment of the leadership and management of a research and development (R&D) organization. It includes an abbreviated set of questions to be addressed in such an evaluation. This appendix presents a more detailed list of questions for assessing leadership and management. The questions are derived from the Burke-Litwin model of organizational leadership and management.1

1. External Environment: consumers, stakeholders, technology, scientific community, and others.

a. Do senior leaders monitor the external environment and gather relevant information?

b. To what extent do senior leaders distill this information into understandable if not simplified language and communicate it to all organizational members?

2. Mission

a. Does the research organization have a clear statement of purpose and reason for being that show a clear link to the external environment?

b. Does the mission statement consist of key components such as what the scope of the scientific fields is, who is being served, and what the research organization stands for—its philosophy, how it wants to be known in the scientific community and the world at large? The mission statement can effectively be considered a mini-business plan.

3. Strategy

a. To what extent does the research organization have a clear and understandable process—a business model—for executing the mission? In other words, can any and all organization members define the organization’s strategy in 25 words or less?

b. Is management ensuring that researchers are working on important problems and that multiple approaches to solving those problems are being explored (when appropriate)?

c. If the work is not characterized by having expertise that few if any other organizations have, is management making sure that there are appropriate interactions with external sources?

d. Is the best use made of available capital funding (recognizing the constraints)?

e. What long-range planning and forecasting are done for future needs in the areas of technology, staff, facilities, and equipment?

f. Does the organization lead to successful new concepts, products, or processes that support the interests of its parent?

g. How well has management of the organization identified its mission and vision as they are aligned with those of the parent?

____________________________

1 W.W. Burke and G.H. Litwin, 1992. A causal model of organizational performance and change. Journal of Management 18(3):523-545.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix H Questions Pertaining to Assessment of Leadership and Management." National Research Council. 2012. Best Practices in Assessment of Research and Development Organizations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13529.
×

h. How well has management of the organization identified its stakeholders and customers? How well does the organization stay in close contact with these groups, and how well does it respond to changing demands?

i. How well does management identify the constraints on its flexibility, and how well does management work within those constraints and/or to overcome them?

4. Culture

a. To what extent are organizational members clear about “how we do things here”?

b. To what extent do organizational members agree that “this is a great place to work”?

c. To what extent are organizational members treated with respect and dignity?

d. Are differences among people respected and encouraged, or is the expectation one of bias and prejudice?

e. Is conflict surfaced and managed, or is it avoided?

5. Leadership

a. To what extent are senior leaders congruent and compatible with the mission of the organization? (Example: If the mission is more in the direction of basic science, leaders may need to be supportive if not laissez-faire as opposed to “hands-on” and highly directive—the scientists may need some freedom; if the mission is more in the direction of development and applied research, perhaps leaders need to be more declarative and directive.)

b. To what extent is succession planning a common and accepted practice?

c. To what extent are people who are selected for leadership chosen according to clear and evidence-based criteria such as self-awareness, relevant experience, learning agility (ability to learn from many different types of situations), vision, energy, and flexibility?

d. To what extent is there a systematic process of developing people for leadership on the basis of different job experiences, reflection, mentoring, and coaching?

e. To what extent does the leadership team inspire as opposed to simply managing? Does the team have the personal traits appropriate to this task—for example, are they compelling speakers, thoughtful listeners?

6. Management Practices

a. To what extent do managers hold the people who report to them accountable for their various levels of performance?

b. To what extent do managers make decisions in a timely manner?

c. To what extent do managers provide clarity to those who report to them about goals and what is expected of them?

d. To what extent does management provide recognition for high performance?

e. To what extent do managers provide performance feedback to those who report to them?

f. To what extent does management ensure that all staff receive adequate mentoring?

g. Is creativity recognized?

h. Does management provide channels for input from staff?

Suggested Citation:"Appendix H Questions Pertaining to Assessment of Leadership and Management." National Research Council. 2012. Best Practices in Assessment of Research and Development Organizations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13529.
×

7. Structure

a. To what extent is the research organization’s structure (reporting and accountability system) congruent and in alignment with the strategy and mission?

8. Systems (Policies and Procedures)

a. To what extent do members of the organization have the resources that they need to accomplish their work?

b. To what extent is the reward structure supportive of good work on the part of all organization members?

c. To what extent are organization members informed about matters that are pertinent to their work?

d. Does staff evaluation use appropriate metrics?

9. Work Unit Climate: To what extent are organizational members at the work-unit level:

a. Clear about what is expected of them?

b. Informally recognized by their managers and peers for outstanding work?

c. Mutually supported by one another?

d. Communicated with in a timely fashion?

e. Involved in decisions that directly affect them?

10. Motivation

f. What is the level of job satisfaction of organizational members, particularly staff?

g. How would one rate the degree of morale in the organization?

h. To what extent are members of the organization engaged in and committed to their work responsibilities?

i. Motivation will follow naturally if the following two issues are dealt with adequately in the organization:

i. Task Requirements and individual skills and/or abilities: To what extent is there a good fit or match between organization members’ talents and/or competencies and the job responsibilities that they hold?

ii. Individual Needs and Values: To what degree is there congruence between individual members’ beliefs and values and the culture of the organization?

11. Individual and Organizational Performance: What metrics and indicators are used for:

j. Individual performance,

k. Work-unit performance, and

l. Performance of the organization as a whole?

m. Are these appropriate?

Suggested Citation:"Appendix H Questions Pertaining to Assessment of Leadership and Management." National Research Council. 2012. Best Practices in Assessment of Research and Development Organizations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13529.
×
Page 64
Suggested Citation:"Appendix H Questions Pertaining to Assessment of Leadership and Management." National Research Council. 2012. Best Practices in Assessment of Research and Development Organizations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13529.
×
Page 65
Suggested Citation:"Appendix H Questions Pertaining to Assessment of Leadership and Management." National Research Council. 2012. Best Practices in Assessment of Research and Development Organizations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13529.
×
Page 66
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Research and development (R&D) organizations are operated by government, business, academe, and independent institutes. The success of their parent organizations is closely tied to the success of these R&D organizations. In this report, organizations refers to an organization that performs research and/or development activities (often a laboratory), and parent refers to the superordinate organization of which the R&D organization is a part. When the organization under discussion is formally labeled a laboratory, it is referred to as such. The question arises: How does one know whether an organization and its programs are achieving excellence in the best interests of its parent? Does the organization have an appropriate research staff, facilities, and equipment? Is it doing the right things at high levels of quality, relevance, and timeliness? Does it lead to successful new concepts, products, or processes that support the interests of its parent?

This report offers assessment guidelines for senior management of organizations and of their parents. The report lists the major principles of assessment, noting that details will vary from one organization to another. It provides sufficient information to inform the design of assessments, but it does not prescribe precisely how to perform them, because different techniques are needed for different types of organizations.

Best Practices in Assessment of Research and Development Organizations covers three key factors that underpin the success of an R&D organization: (1) the mission of the organization and its alignment with that of the parents; (2) the relevance and impact of the organization's work; and (3) the resources provided to the organization, beginning with a high-quality staff and management.

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