Toward the development of benchmarking tools for R&D project management

This paper presents an audit model for the process of R&D project management that can be used to check the robustness and repeatability of processes and provide a template for internal and external benchmarking. The intention is to offer a 'fine-grained' model focusing rather closely on the R&D activities within the broader innovation process, thus complementing the more widely based innovation audit models that already exist.
Based on field-work in six business units in ICI and five companies from other industries, the paper sets out three major variants of the R&D project management process. These variants reflect the fact that R&D projects take place in different circumstances and have different objectives.     

The strategic management of a large scale IT project in the financial services sector

This article explores theoretical and empirical work on IT strategy formulation. While the managerialist focus upon a structured rational text-book model is common in the literature, it is not supported by empirical research on IT projects in the financial services sector.     

Modeling the dynamics of strategic fit: a normative approach to strategic change

This study develops and tests a dynamic perspective on strategic fit. Drawing from contingency and resource‐based arguments in the strategy and organizational theory literatures, we propose a distinctive analytical approach to identify environmental and organizational contingencies that should predict changes in a firm's strategy and the performance implications of such changes. We test our model using extensive longitudinal data from over 4000 U.S. savings and loan institutions during a period when many S&Ls considered changing strategic direction. The findings support our model of dynamic strategic fit. Specifically, we find that (1) the timing, direction, and magnitude of strategic changes can be logically predicted based on differences in specific environmental forces and organizational resources, and (2) organizations that deviated from our model's prediction of dynamic strategic fit (i.e., changed more or changed less than our model prescribed) experienced negative performance consequences. We conclude by discussing the implications of our approach and findings for future research on strategic fit and strategic change. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Impact on Housing Costs of the California Coastal Zone Conservation Act1

Evaluating the impact of California's Coastal Commissions' actions on housing costs provide challenges to economists and political scientists for which they lack both adequate theory and data to reach decisive conclusions. At best evaluation of eight years of Commissions' actions indicate that their actions have saved some scarce coastal resources most in need of protection. However, these achievements created some types of excessive costs and market dislocations which promise to affect adversely housing costs in major populous urban areas. Unfortunately the full range of public and private costs remains undefined and current judgments about Commissions' actions must remain tentative.     

Market frictions as building blocks of an organizational economics approach to strategic management

This paper shows that market frictions are fundamental building blocks for an organizational economics approach to strategic management. Various organizational economic approaches (transaction costs, property rights, real options, and resource‐based) have distinctive focal problems and emphasize different combinations of market frictions. A wider recognition of the role of market frictions is useful for three main objectives. First, it helps identify an evolving market‐frictions paradigm in strategic management. Second, it shows how two primary questions in strategy of why firms exist and why some firms outperform others and the three primary strategic goals of cost minimization, value creation, and value capture can be better joined and evaluated. Third, different combinations of market frictions can generate new research questions and advance theory development in the strategic management field. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Research-Based Pedagogy For New Product Development: MBA's Versus Engineers In Different Countries1

An experiential exercise based on the meta‐analysis results reported by Montoya‐Weiss and Calantone [22] was used in eleven graduate classes, all electives in technology management, at five different institutions in the U.S., Germany, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, during the period 1999–2001. The purpose of this article is to describe the details of this exercise used to promote awareness of the process leading to relative success of new product commercialization and the results of testing hypotheses on the differences between classes from different countries (i.e., in Europe and the U.S), and professional disciplines. During the sixth meeting of the course, new product development is introduced to the class using a discussion of the value of academic research in this field. First, the results of the meta‐analysis are reviewed and then converted to a method that can be used to screen new product introduction cases for potential success. The entire exercise is devoted to the prime factors that drive commercial success of new products. This is done as part of a larger unit on new product development in the context of technological innovation. Second, students are collectively asked to evaluate the potential of the introduction of a new ultrasound product described in a business publication article, which serves as the teaching case in this instance. The exercise culminates with the class “voting” on the probability of success of this new ultrasound product introduced in the short case. Predicted differences in the form of more optimistic probability estimates turned out to be supported for class composition (e.g., discipline) but not for country (U.S. vs. rest‐of‐world). Although all classes correctly predicted the eventual success of this new product (>60% success rate), graduate engineers were significantly more pessimistic than heterogeneous groups of MBA students in their average probability estimates for new product success (grand mean of 62% vs. 75% respectively). Implications of these results are discussed. Future research might investigate the sources of these differences and the subtle differences within, as well as between, these groups. For example, in MBA classes, the differences between marketing and operations majors might be important and for technical professionals, the differences between electrical engineers and mechanical engineers would make a good comparison. Further, a broader range of geographic regions could be evaluated such as Asia and South America. The results of interventions to promote optimal diversity in new product and venture teams might also be a valuable research stream. © 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.     

Strategic intelligence activity: The management of the sales force as a source of strategic information

Environmental information is very important to strategic management. Human sources are among the most commonly used sources of information and among them, boundary people, such as salesman, hold a privileged position. One dimension which measures the quality of a strategic response is its speed of implementation. Recognizing this, to ensure a good (fast) strategic response, fast communication of information is imperative. This article focuses on factors which influence the speed of communication of environmental information. It is based on an exploratory research which has been carried out on a sample of salesmen of an industrial company. Management policies regarding the use of the sales force as an efficient source of strategic information are proposed in conclusion.     

North-South Differences in Housing and the Housing and Community Development Act of 19771

During the past two decades the South has experienced more vigorous urban development than the North. In response to this continuing trend, the Congress has recently enacted legislation that provides increased levels of Federal assistance to slower growing communities and those whose housing stocks are disproportionately old, thus providing increased benefits to northern cities. Data from the Annual Housing Survey are examined to establish differences between housing conditions in these two regions, and the potential of the newly-established regionally targeted allocation schemes toward achieving national housing goals is discussed.     

Changes in the intellectual structure of strategic management research: a bibliometric study of the Strategic Management Journal, 1980–2000

The aim of this paper is to identify the works that have had the greatest impact on strategic management research and to analyze the changes that have taken place in the intellectual structure of this discipline. The methodology is based on the bibliometric techniques of citation and co‐citation analysis which are applied to all the articles published in the Strategic Management Journal from its first issue in 1980 through 2000. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysing the stakes of stakeholders in research and development project management: a systems approach

Research and development (R&D) project management involves managing multiple stakeholders with conflicting stakes. This article proposes a systems approach to capture such conflicting stakes of multiple stakeholders in controversial R&D projects. The approach is illustrated using a New Zealand case study related to the use of 1080 chemical for pest management. Initially, the problem situation was structured systemically by analysing the behaviour of the main variables and by conducting a stakeholder analysis. Further, a participative systems model related to the problem situation was developed using a group model‐building process. The analysis of the model revealed a set of feedback loops operating in the system identified as constituting and responsible for the complexity of the problem situation relating to 1080 use. In conclusion, the paper highlights some strategies suggested by the stakeholders to manage conflict.     

Introduction to the IMM special issue on ‘Project marketing and the marketing of solutions’ A comprehensive approach to project marketing and the marketing of solutions

This introduction to the special issue on ‘Project Marketing and the Marketing of Solutions’ starts by highlighting the major contributions made in the field of project marketing during the last decade. Then it points out the emergence of integrated solutions and details the major challenges facing the marketing of solutions. It concludes on the possible synergies between the marketing of solutions and project marketing.     

From R&D to strategic knowledge management: transitions and challenges for national laboratories

The past two decades have witnessed unprecedented changes to national laboratories as they have adjusted to globalized and technology based competition. These transitions are reviewed in the context of how Canada's National Research Council has progressed from an internally oriented R&D organization into a more externally focused innovation organization, now coping with the challenges of strategic knowledge management. The paper traces the steps and paradigms involved in this transition and offers some commentary on the extent of the corporate cultural learning that has been required to effect these changes.     

工程项目"代建制"相关问题初探

政府投资建设项目实行“代建制”是近年来在我国刚刚兴起的一种管理模式,是在改革政府投资项目建设实施模式中的一项制度创新。本文结合国内工程项目实行“代建制”的实例,分析以往工程管理模式存在的问题,指出“代建制”管理模式与工程管理模式的区别,总结出实行项目“代建制”管理模式的优点,并对此种管理模式在运行过程中可能出现的问题做了进一步分析。     

Reconciling logical incrementalism and synoptic formalism—an integrated approach to designing strategic planning processes

The advocates of logical incrementalism and synoptic formalism in strategic planning emphasize, respectively, the interactive and analytical dimensions of the planning process. This paper suggests a framework for designing planning processes that permits a symbiotic integration of both approaches. In particular, synoptic exercises scheduled at intervals of more than a year, with incremental exercises in the intervening years are recommended.     

Using meta‐analytic structural equation modeling to advance strategic management research: Guidelines and an empirical illustration via the strategic leadership‐performance relationship

This paper demonstrates how meta‐analysis can be combined with structural equation modeling (MASEM) to address new questions in strategic management research. We review this integration, describe its implementation, and compare findings from bivariate meta‐analyses, a direct‐effect structural equations model, and two mediating frameworks using data on the strategic leadership and performance relationship. Results drawn from 208 articles that collectively included data on 495,638 observations demonstrate the new insights available from MASEM while also suggesting a revision to conventional thinking on strategic leadership. Whereas some theories posit that boards of directors influence firm performance through monitoring and disciplining the top management team, MASEM provides more support for the view that boards mediate the top management teams' decisions. Implications for applying MASEM in strategic management are offered. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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     

Fostering knowledge management deployment in R&D workspaces: a five-stage approach

In recent years, R&D institutes have encountered various intensified challenges. New instruments are needed to manage knowledge-related activities more effectively and efficiently. This paper presents and discusses the lessons learned from a case study in fostering knowledge management (KM) initiatives and systems in a research-oriented institute serving the metal industry, specifically the Metal Industries Research and Development Centre (MIRDC) in Taiwan. We perform a comparative review of the experience of embarking on KM among Taiwanese R&D institutes, a very rarely performed job. Following this, we investigate, by conducting the primary and secondary researches, how MIRDC has adopted a five-stage approach to develop a deliberate framework of KM deployment in order to manipulate the KM operations in the context of a Chinese R&D institute. The MIRDC case demonstrates a sophisticated KM process that provides an activity-based perspective of the plan, control, coordination and evaluation framework in an R&D workspace. This paper argues that well-defined deployment frameworks embody qualities of goal pursuing that are important to KM activities and compel managers to examine more closely how to realize the KM initiatives. This paper also reveals that a rigid hierarchical R&D structure inhibits the dynamics of the knowledge cycle due to technology segmentation. A parallel R&D structure supported by mission offices and a 'pioneer and innovation program' that is cross-departmental and industry-focused can positively motivate horizontal 'coopertition' networking so as to better exploit and leverage knowledge assets. The practices applied in these elemental KM activities are useful to other R&D organizations by suggesting how each of the KM activities can be configured and implemented.     

Applying knowledge management to project marketing in a demanding technology transfer project: Convincing the industrial customer over the knowledge gap

Literature in project and knowledge management has examined knowledge management in projects, but the utilization of knowledge management in project marketing is still largely unexplored. This study examines the links between knowledge management and project marketing activities in a project where the seller wants to convince the potential buyer about a demanding investment project. An in-depth case study illustrates this in a situation hampered by a technical knowledge gap between the parties. The buyer is committed when they can trust the seller's capability to successfully accomplish the project. The seller must criticize and communicate its core and project specific knowledge of technologies and customer needs through project marketing. A framework and implications on knowledge management and project marketing activities in different project phases is presented. It is proposed that knowledge management is a pertinent tool for project marketing as it helps to understand the roles of different knowledge types.