• STI Policy Review
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.75-93
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• 2017

Recently, global competition in the manufacturing sector is driving firms in the manufacturing sector to conduct product innovation projects to maintain their competitive edge. The key points of product innovation projects are 1) what the purpose of the project is and 2) what expected results in the target market can be achieved by implementing the innovation. Therefore, this study focuses on the performance of innovation projects with a business viewpoint. In this respect, this study proposes the "achievement rate" of product innovation projects as a measurement of project performance. Then, this study finds the best strategies from various innovation activities to optimize the achievement rate of product innovation projects. There are three major innovation activities for the projects, including three types of R&D activities: Internal, joint and external R&D, and five types of non-R&D activities - acquisition of machines, equipment and software, purchasing external knowledge, job education and training, market research and design. This study applies decision tree modeling, a kind of data-mining methodology, to explore effective innovation activities. This study employs the data from the 'Korean Innovation Survey (KIS) 2014: Manufacturing Sector.' The KIS 2014 gathered information about innovation activities in the manufacturing sector over three years (2011-2013). This study gives some practical implication for managing the activities. First, innovation activities that increased the achievement rate of product diversification projects included a combination of market research, new product design, and job training. Second, our results show that a combination of internal R&D, job training and training, and market research increases the project achievement most for the replacement of outdated products. Third, new market creation or extension of market share indicates that launching replacement products and continuously upgrading products are most important.