Total evaluation for management purposes of engineering and scientific tasks

A system for reporting to management on the progress of scientific and engineering projects is analyzed. The hypothesis on which the study is based is as follows: The critical elements of information affecting technical projects can be isolated and meaningful quantitative measures of them, established to assess technical progress. An analysis procedure can be developed for transmutation of the quantified data into meaningful indicators for management. In the course of the analysis, project engineers making biweekly reports tested the narrative-type system. Their reports on statistically representative projects were analyzed using the techniques of frequency of occurrence, percentage calculations, weighted ratios, regression line analysis, correlation, test of significance, confidence limits, and importance ranking. The resultant data can enable management personnel to continuously assess individual projects, and to concentrate on the pertinent factors contained in each report. A concurrent computer programming procedure facilitates reduction of data, and management is more able to identify the recurrent bottlenecks within a particular project.