Applications of computers in R & D management

R & D Managers use computers extensively in solving technical problems. This paper examines the use they make of computers in solving Management problems. Applications of computers to various aspects of R & D programme formulation, project planning, technical information storage and retrieval, management information systems, and computer-aided training have been investigated by many companies and, in some cases, have been implemented. Some of the techniques have become well established but others are still at a development stage. No attempt has been made to evaluate the techniques described. This topic was the subject of a study by a Working Group of the European Industrial Research Management Association (EIRMA), and a report ‘Computers as Aids to R & D Management’ was distributed to members of the Association. EIRMA has now agreed to release information contained in that report and this paper is based on that information updated by the author, who was Chairman of the EIRMA Working Group.     

The management of Army R & D projects

This study of the accuracy of cost and duration estimates for British defence R & D projects is based on an analysis of the records of 29 Army projects, initiated since 1960. The results are generally similar to American defence studies with which they are compared. The reasons for schedule slippages and cost escalations are examined and it is suggested that performance could be improved by more thorough project feasibility and definition studies and by a stronger project management organization.     

The information requirements of R & D management

This brief survey describes the role of R & D in industry, with particular respect to some of the requirements which its management has in order to fulfil its function effectively, more particularly in the field of information, bearing in mind that the product of R&D is yet more information, and that a very broad approach to the problems is required.     

Steady state and portfolio concept in R & D management

This paper describes a new approach for closing the gap between the tools for strategic goal management and operational management in Pharmaceutical R&D. The strategic level may concern with expectation of sales, rising from new products and with total R & D budget. The operational level concerns with project selection, project and multiproject management problems, solution of project related technical problems, determination of the size of the various functions and the functional management. This new method combines the R & D project portfolio management with a steady state concept allowing the attainment of a constant number of projects under development and a continuous full use of the capacity available.     

R & D management practices:* chemical industry in Europe

The paper summarizes the results of interviews with R & D managers in forty-three chemical companies in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the U.K. covering questions concerned with: R & D planning, size and distribution of R & D efforts, organization of R & D and project management. The results are presented in quantitative and qualitative terms, and the differences between various categories of chemical industry and between various national practices are discussed.     

Interaction between management and R & D: chemical industry in Europe

The paper summarizes the results of interviews, primarily with the R & D manager, in 43 chemical companies in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the U.K. covering questions concerned with the background and attitude of various levels of management and their interaction with R & D. The results are presented in quantitative and qualitative terms, and differences between various categories of chemical industry and between various national practices are discussed.     

Project management for R & D equipment: a prescriptive attack

The authors review statements from industry on the problems of procuring physical equipment for research and development, and list the lessons of project management that can be applied     

Ten years of R & D Management-some major themes: the role of communication in R & D

Fifteen papers on the role of interpersonal communication in R & D appearing in the first ten volumes of R & D Management are reviewed. The conclusions reached by the various contributors on three major themes are compared. The themes are: the relation of communication to performance, the effect of physical separation on communication rate, and the role of communication stars in information transfer. A clear division of opinion emerges on the extent to which managers can impose or create effective communication patterns as distinct from merely being able to stimulate those that already exist. Differences in experimental approach and the existence of methodological gaps prevent any judgment being made between the two viewpoints based only on the evidence in the papers under review.     

Communication networks in R & D Laboratories

Communication networks in R & D laboratories are shown to have structural characteristics, which when properly understood can be employed to more effectively maintain the laboratories' personnel abreast of technological developments. Informal relations and physical location are shown to be important determinants of this structure. Informal relations can be developed through formation of project teams and intergroup transfers and loans. The effect of physical location on communications is especially strong and should be given serious consideration when designing research facilities.     

Assessment of profiles in R & D: a tool for analysis and development of R & D potential

A study sponsored by the State Committee for Science and Technical Progress of Bulgaria aimed at providing a theoretically sound and easy to apply method for the needs of R & D management on government, organization and team levels, to be used in assessing and managing both present and future R & D potential.
The method draws inferences about R & D potential from the accumulated experience and performance of the researchers, analysed along research topics. A specific 'man-topic unit of analysis helps identify individual researchers, teams and projects' profiles and also helps translate the specific characteristics of R & D work and the requirements for R & D internal effectiveness into the language of R & D management.     

The economics of industrial R & D

The relationship between research and commercial operation is examined in terms of production using a simple Cobb-Douglas production function, where output is expressed in terms of inputs of labour, capital and‘technical progress’. The model was tested in a single company environment by multiple regression analysis of output as the dependent variable on various measures of research, labour and capital. The results of the regression analysis are in full agreement with the model as outlined and the assumption that output is dependent simultaneously on labour, capital and the cumulative research investment.     

Human aspects of R & D organization

Abstract. The organization structure of an R & D Division should seek to establish conditions in which creative ideas flourish. The nature of the R & D activity and needs of its staff must be clearly understood. The essential core of the organization should comprise a number of commercial target groups around which lie a flexible array of disciplinary and service groups. It is essential that group managers are seen to be scientists or engineers of distinctive competence. There should not be more than three tiers of management.     

Creativity and organization in pharmaceuticals R & D

This paper reviews the results of a study carried out in conjunction with the Chemical and Allied Products Industry Training Board to link internal environmental factors of an organization to measures of creativity in R & D in the pharmaceutical industry. The methods adopted have been described and the preliminary results of the pilot study carried out in one organization in order to develop, refine and test methodology. It is hoped in the future that the techniques developed will be extended to provide comparisons in other organizations in the pharmaceutical industry in order to draw firm conclusions. The paper also sets the study in the context of a brief historical review of other studies in this field. It is concluded that the investigation has evolved a methodology capable of identifying and measuring some facilitatory and inhibitory influences on creativity in an R & D environment, allowing comparisons to be drawn between environmental influences in different parts of the same organization.     

R & D and the company's requirements

Numerous models have been put forward in the literature for the selection and evaluation of projects, many of which are based on optimizing the return on investment by the company in R & D projects. This is a noble aim but in practice the financial data available are often of dubious accuracy and so many other factors are involved in actually adopting a portfolio of selected projects that project selection often becomes a theoretical exercise. It is suggested that the selection of projects is in essence the adoption of a strategy which is within the policy and long-term aims of the company and also within the policy and scientific development of the R & D part of the company. Such a strategy is usually sub-optimum for both the company and the R & D division, as it is a compromise between a desire for high pay-back investments by the company and the maintenance of a scientifically balanced R & D involving some long-term, unknown return, investments. A method is currently being experimented with by Unilever Research which illustrates where conflicts arise between the policy of the main company and that of research, and assists management in arriving at a strategy which most closely fulfils the needs of both policies. Both the concept of the method and its practical use are described in this paper.     

Communication patterns in small R & D projects

An empirical investigation was carried out on the pattern and role of communication in two ongoing applied research projects in one of the national laboratories of the C. S. I. R., India. The overall objectives of the study were: (1) to investigate the communication pattern and its relationship with parameters like hierarchy, educational status and social relations: (2) to identify ‘technological gatekeepers’ and ‘isolates’ and study their characteristics and roles; (3) to study the role of informal communication vis-à-vis formal communication in problem-solving and idea-generation. In this paper, the first two aspects are discussed: the role of informal communication in problem-solving and idea-generation will be published in a subsequent paper.     

Equitable payment in the R & D function

This paper discusses the problems associated with constructing equitable salary structures for Senior R & D employees. The use of job evaluation and performance appraisal are both considered. It is suggested that the decision band method of job evaluation is particularly useful in this context and a case study of its application within the R & D division of a large manufacturing firm is presented. Job grading and salary structuring in terms of decision-making responsibility are demonstrated. It is argued that the decision band approach assists rational administration of R & D in a number of ways including analysis and, perhaps, restructuring of the function. Methods of rewarding individual performance and measuring career development within R & D are also discussed in terms of the decision band concept.