Analytical Instrument R&D Management

Abstract . The paper describes briefly some of the problems faced in the management of R&D in the British Scientific Instrument Industry and an opportunity of re-organization following the merger of several small companies.
The reasons for a hybrid rather than a project orientated or functional organization are given, with special reference to economies of standardization and flexibility of resources resulting from size. The method of resource allocation and project control is outlined and some qualitative conclusions on the results of this approach are drawn.     

Mapping the invisible colleges of R&D Management

R&D Management has consistently been considered one of the top technology and innovation management journals since its inaugural issue in 1970. The purpose of this paper is to use bibliometric techniques to examine R&D Management in four time periods, 1986–1990, 1991–1995, 1996–2000, and 2001–2005 in order to reveal changes in its intellectual base. Bibliometric research has illuminated the knowledge domains of several technology and innovation management journals including R&D Management Linton and Thongpapanl, but there has not previously been a comprehensive detailed analysis focused only on R&D Management . Using co-citation analysis, this paper identifies the invisible colleges (research networks) associated with publications in R&D Management . The results indicate that Cohen and Levinthal's absorptive capacity model dominates the final two periods. The conclusions suggest how the absorptive capacity model might be more effectively utilized in future R&D Management research.     

Management by Objectives in R&D

Abstract . There is considerable confusion about the meaning of the term management by objectives and of the appropriateness to the R&D environment of the various procedures which many organizations have adopted under the general heading of MBO. This short paper reports on a pilot study of five organizations, carried out in order to obtain information about the use, or otherwise, of MBO.     

In-house R&D management development — strategy and implementation in a major government R&D agency

Abstract
The paper describes the experiences of CSIR in developing an in-house capability and implementation process of R&D management development programmes. The conceptual approach of the laboratory-based R&D management development programmes is described. Different phases in the process of implementation are presented along with the case studies of recent training programmes in two different laboratories. Some of the key aspects of the training programmes —- successful implementation, relationship with policy-making, and improving R&D performance have been examined. The role of international co-operation in R&D management development is suggested. The paper also discusses the future prospects of R&D management development programmes in the country.     

Management of European fast reactor R&D

Since 1984 government-funded fast reactor R&D in France, Germany and the UK has been run as a collaborative activity, and since 1988 as a unified programme in support of the design and construction of the advanced European Fast Reactor. This paper describes the international management structure which has been set up, and the means used to control the work. It is written from the point of view of those engaged in the project, and makes no attempt at a formal analysis of the structure.
The main difficulty is that control of funding remains with the three governments. The R&D programme has to be managed so that it meets the needs of each government separately as well as the designers' requirements.
To start with the management structure was excessively bureaucratic, but it has become more flexible and efficient. This has happened as the initial nationalistic suspicions have broken down, and the staff engaged in the work have learnt more about each others' ways of working so that an atmosphere of trust and inter-dependence has grown up.
(This paper was written before the changes in UK policy on fast reactor development were announced in November 1992.)     

Global R&D Project Management and Organization: A Taxonomy

This work studies the management and organization of global R&D projects, i.e. projects leading to innovations to be exploited in multiple countries. It provides a taxonomy of how firms conduct such projects. The empirical base is composed of twelve multinational companies, from the three major areas (Europe, Japan, North America), operating technology-intensive businesses. Two basic structures are identified: the specialization based, where one foreign lab (the firm's center of excellence) is assigned the responsibility for developing a new product, process or technology on the basis of a global mandate, and the integration based, where different units contribute to technology development programs and global innovations are the result of the joint work of these units. In each categories two sub-cases have been found: the center of excellence and the supported specialization, on the one hand, and the network and specialized contributor structures, on the other. The four structures have been studied in relation to: the key characteristics of the organization and management of global projects (in each phase, from conception to introduction into the market), the organizational factors affecting the success, the context conditions in which the structure is considered appropriate.     

Changing Patterns in Industrial R&D Management

A successful R&D manager is, in many ways, an agent of change. R&D managers must respond effectively to changes in domestic and global competition, product and process technologies, customer requirements, regulatory matters, and senior management's perception of the role R&D plays in a firm. The responses to these changes flow downstream from R&D to other parts of the organization, in the form of new materials, methods, processes, and products. To help us understand the changes facing R&D management, Ashok K. Gupta and David Wilemon present the results of a study that examines the ideas and experiences of 120 R&D directors from technology-based companies. The study explores the major changes that R&D management has undergone in recent years, the changes R&D managers expect to encounter during the next few years, and the causes of those changes. The respondents also identify the skills and knowledge they view as necessary for effective R&D management, and they assess their organizations' capabilities in those areas. According to the respondents, major changes that R&D has encountered include increased emphasis on such issues as cross-functional teamwork, R&D's contribution to both short- and long-term business results, R&D's capability to quickly bring to market new products that customers value, efficient use of R&D resources, and R&D alliances. Other changes noted by respondents include greater pressure to find new markets, increased attention on the effective management of technical personnel, and increased regulations and sensitivity to environmental issues. The knowledge domains that the respondents highlighted as having the greatest effect on R&D performance include such capabilities as understanding customer needs, monitoring market developments, commercializing new technologies, building cross-functional teams, managing multiple R&D projects, and accelerating new product development. According to the respondents, the largest gaps between required and current capabilities exist in several of the areas listed as being most important to effective R&D management, including monitoring market developments that can affect R&D activities and overall business performance, maintaining a spirit of inquiry while ensuring that R&D contributes to overall corporate performance, developing technology commercialization capabilities, fostering mutually profitable strategic alliances, and accelerating the development and commercialization of new products.     

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.     

R&D 'programmes-competencies' matrix: analyzing R&D expertise within the firm

The author suggests that the systematic identification of a firm's technologies opens up the possibility of evaluating, protecting, optimizing, enriching and exploiting these technologies to the full. A firm's technologies fall into two parts: those embodied and exploited in current operations and those evolving from the collective competencies of its R&D staff. The author's aim is to evaluate and describe the firm's R&D competencies.
The identification of R&D competencies proceeds in three steps: tracing the background of the current and past programmes, constructing a programmes/competencies matrix, and deriving an expertise profile. The construction of the matrix is the key activity and requires much care in its execution, if competencies are to be properly defined and truly existing, and if it is to be exhaustive. The author sketches a procedure for constructing a matrix and discusses problems of implementation and draws attention to some of its limitations.
The author claims that such an inventory of expertise could improve the efficiency of the use of the R&D resource, identify a laboratory's strengths and weaknesses, direct R&D into hitherto neglected channels, assist individuals to identify and evaluate their own expertise, justify obtaining funding for building expertise in shortage areas. The method should be considered as a starting point to formulate appropriate strategies to gain access to technology.     

How a patent conflict affects industrial R&D Management

The authors relate and analyse the case of a long-running patent conflict between two very large multinational firms in the synthetic fibre business - AKZO and Du Pont. The subject of the conflict was a new fibre of the aramid dass. They show that the case reveals deficiencies in international patent law in need of correction.
The analysis is conducted with the aid of social network theory applied to pub-lished information and data supplied by AKZO and other sources. The theory takes as its starting point that when a number of related functional groups unite behind a common and vital interest the pursuit of this interest becomes virtually unstoppable. In this case the crucial social network was formed first within AKZO and then extended outside to include politicians and government. It propelled the firm to pursue to the end attempts to by-pass a patent position held by Du Pont.
The paper reveals that an apparently strong patent position can actually help a rival to circumvent it. This defect in the patent law is leading companies to avoid patenting and to rely instead on secrecy alone. The authors believe that this will act against the public interest, for exam-ple, by preventing thorough public assessment of a new technology before it is implemented. They argue for changes in the patent law to reduce this risk.