HOW TO SOLVE COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS ON THE R AND D INTERFACE

It is now widely recognized that isolation of the R and D department from the rest of the company, influences the rate of innovation in a negative way. An essential condition for the innovation process to proceed smoothly, is cooperation between the various functional departments (e.g. R and D, marketing, production). In this paper some results of an empirical study among R and D managers in medium sized Dutch industrial companies will be presented. The four main hypotheses tested are as follows: (1) R and D managers disagree with actual company policy with respect to importance of short-run vs. long-run goals in setting the R and D budget. (2) The level of influence that the R and D managers allow from non- R and D managers (e.g. on the R and D budget) depends on the level of integration between R and D and the rest of the company. (3) Some identifiable organizational devices have a positive influence on the level of integration (understanding) between functional departments. (4) The level of integration has a positive influence on the performance of the R and D department. Our material can give some useful suggestions to the general manager in deciding how to improve the communication between R and D and the rest of the company.