This paper shows the results from a survey of Spanish industrial companies on the use of early warning signals for the earliest possible identification of failing research and development (R&D) projects. Factor analysis indicates that project profitability and cooperation were the factors most responsible for the variance of early warning signals. On the other hand, checklists and ratios were the most used methods to organize early warning signals. The difference in the use of early warning signals depended on the company's R&D effort and the project size. There was also a dependent relationship between the use of early warning signals and the critical importance of success factors for R&D projects.
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