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Person–project fit and R&D performance: a case study of Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan
Author(s) -
Cheng SenHao,
Wang YauDe,
Horng RueyYun,
Huang YungChang
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
randd management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.253
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1467-9310
pISSN - 0033-6807
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9310.2007.00470.x
Subject(s) - originality , cognition , task (project management) , feeling , creativity , psychology , project management , applied psychology , social psychology , management , neuroscience , economics
This study examined the relation between the research and development (R&D) performance and the fit between a researcher's cognitive type and the task demand of the project that was implied in Wang, Wu & Horng's (1999) study. Three hundred and eighteen research projects completed by 205 project leaders in the 3 years were classified into Unsworth's four creativity types along two dimensions: (1) whether the research addressed an open‐ or closed‐ended problem and (2) whether the project was assigned or actively sought by the researcher. Each researcher's personal traits were assessed using Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Kirton's Adaptor–Innovator Scale (KAI). Results show that researchers with a conforming, feeling, or judging‐type cognition performed better with assigned projects for solving closed problems. Those with an originality and intuitive‐type cognition performed better on self‐initiated projects for solving open‐ended problems. Researchers with sensing‐type cognition performed better with assigned projects for solving open‐ended questions. Thus, a careful match between a researcher's cognitive type and the task demand of project is important for R&D management.