Int. J. Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Vol. 26, Nos. 1/2, 2022 85
Copyright © 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
Review of key performance indicators for measuring
innovation process performance
Vanessa Nappi* and Kevin Kelly
Trinity College Dublin,
College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland
Email: nappiv@tcd.ie
Email: kevin.kelly@tcd.ie
*Corresponding author
Abstract: Performance indicators (PIs) are critical to the measurement of the
innovation process. However, existing studies neglect PIs and dimensions
relevant to companies in the current innovation landscape. This paper bridges
this gap in prior research by reviewing and systematising PIs for the innovation
process. It builds upon a systematic literature review to analyse scientific
publications on innovation PIs published between 1983 and 2018. Thus, this
study identifies the characteristics of relevant publications as well as
systematises 259 PIs into nine company-specific and contextual dimensions
and further categorisations. The analysis discusses the top-cited PIs and finds
that more qualitative and leading PIs than quantitative exist in the literature.
Furthermore, additional PIs are needed to address areas, such as leadership
quality and tacit knowledge. This study may constitute an opportunity for
academics to identify relevant measurement instruments and innovation
managers to find an initial reference to support the selection of PIs.
Keywords: innovation process; new product development; NPD; performance
measurement; performance framework; systematic literature review; SLR;
performance dimensions; key performance indicators; KPIs; qualitative
indicators; quantitative indicators; leading indicators.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Nappi, V. and Kelly, K.
(2022) ‘Review of key performance indicators for measuring innovation
process performance’, Int. J. Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management,
Vol. 26, Nos. 1/2, pp.85–109.
Biographical notes: Vanessa Nappi is a Doctoral candidate in Mechanical
and Manufacturing Engineering at Trinity College Dublin. She holds a
degree in Civil and Production Engineering from the Federal University of
Santa Catarina (UFSC) and a Master’s in Production Engineering from the
University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil. Prior to joining Trinity, she worked as a
Senior Product Engineer in São Paulo. Her research interests include
innovation management, performance measurement, knowledge management
and product lifecycle management.
Kevin Kelly is an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering, Trinity
College Dublin, Ireland. His research interests span design, innovation,
robotics, manufacturing and engineering education. He has published over
70 articles in peer-reviewed journals and conferences. He and his team have
received numerous awards in innovation, including the James Dyson Award
(Ireland) 2017, Engineers Ireland Technological Innovation of 2014 and
AbilityNet Tech4Good People’s Award 2018.