Introduction

One of the operational goals of production processes is to meet the quality criteria for the goods produced. These criteria concern, for example, a product's strength, functions or resistance to wear. If a product does not meet its quality criteria, it loses much of its value. The same holds for field problem solving projects. Executing a problem solving project can also be interpreted as a production process. The deliverables of this production process are defined in the assignment (see Section 6.6). This chapter discusses the quality criteria for the products of a problem solving project.

Problem solving projects can be evaluated on several criteria. We make a distinction between research-oriented criteria and change-oriented criteria. Research-oriented criteria concern the research aspects of problem solving projects – or, in other words, they concern the statements on the business system researched and its context. They are particularly relevant for diagnosis and evaluation, since these comprise most research activities. Research-oriented criteria are less important during problem definition, redesign and implementation. Change-oriented criteria, including relevance and the creation of support, are more germane to those latter activities. Change-oriented criteria are discussed in Section 3.8. The present chapter deals only with research-oriented criteria.