Research findings in strategic management with implications for R&D management

Abstract
The author has reviewed the literature, predominantly North American, on the relationships between corporate strategy and corporate performance.
The general context is the question of where and how a firm should diversify. The author considers three areas of decision: corporate strategy, (where to compete), business strategy, (how to compete), and corporate organization (receptiveness to diversification). It appears that the most advantageous corporate strategy is to diversify into a high-profit area but to maintain a substantial relatedness to existing businesses; the best business strategy is to have a market-related perspective, to use R&D to develop new products with a marked competitive advantage rather than new processes, to minimise investment but to enter the market on a sufficiently large scale. This last condition presupposes a high degree of top-management commitment to the venture. Furthermore, consideration has to be given to whether the organizational culture is such as to nurture rather than stifle the venture by insisting on administrative controls appropriate to the firm's traditional base.
The author points to three areas deserving of further investigation: How a firm in a mature industry can find a related area that is sufficiently attractive; how to fix on the correct scale of an entry taking into account the long lead times before the venture shows a net return; and how to ensure that the corporate culture will be able to accommodate novel interests and procedures.
All the above matters pose questions for the management of technology and the direction of R&D.     

Forecasting core competencies in an R&D environment

This study, carried out in 1998, aimed to develop a method of forecasting core competencies in an agricultural research organization, using the Delphi Technique. First, based on a survey of internal documents and interviews, nine organizational core competencies and their specific components (human competencies) were defined, and expert judges identified. These judges responded to a questionnaire, in which the importance of the future human competencies was assessed and the organization's existing human capacity was evaluated. Means were calculated for both judgements and changes were made in various definitions, based on the experts' comments. Another questionnaire was designed and sent out to an expanded panel of judges to confirm or to revise the priority mean scores obtained or to add scores in the case of competencies that entered later. Factor analysis and reliability scores have demonstrated internal and inter‐competency consistencies. Technological Innovation Management and Geo‐processing appeared as the top priorities and Plant Pathology as the least priority. Priorities for each human competency were also calculated and they have been helpful for decision‐making concerning the selection and graduate training of researchers on the organization studied.     

Global R&D management

Abstract
Global R&D management, the management of company R&D effort distributed over different countries, a task that concerns multinational firms, has not been widely studied. The authors have therefore carried out in-depth studies of global R&D conducted by 7 European and 15 Japanese companies. Their objective was to identify 'best practice' and so construct a framework for future research.
The authors' conclusions are as follows. Globalisation, that is decentralisation of R&D, has become a necessity for multinationals as a result of the localisation of competition, of product life becoming shorter than development time, and the need to locate laboratories near sources of new technological know-how.
Because foreign acquisitions often lead to the acquisition of laboratories, questions are raised about how best to integrate them with the administrative practices of the 'home' organization, whether to reorganize them or to close them down. When it is necessary to set up a new foreign-based laboratory deciding its exact location will require the weighing of factors such as whether the activities are to be market or process oriented, where on the R to D scale the activities will be placed, and how far direction of the laboratory's programmes and work will be decentralised.
Global management also demands special attention to the building of an open communication network among the laboratories, the best form of which has yet to be determined. The main concern in human resource management will be how to select and develop an internationally oriented management corps and how to train R&D professionals to communicate across sites.
If globally dispersed R&D laboratories are to be most effectively used then a new framework for their management needs to be developed.     

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.     

Technology analysis and R&D management

Technology analysis is a new field of knowledge aimed at creating a fuller understanding of the technological setting within which business operates. It provides a macro-discipline and is specifically aimed at improving the effectiveness of management of technology. As such it is of direct relevance to R&D management.
The essential tools of technology analysis constitute a set of analytical frameworks covering aspects such as: (i) a common approach to describing individual technological artefacts, (ii) a taxonomy of technologies, (iii) a classification of technological trends, (iv) a chart of technological limits, and (v) a socio-technical preference profile.
These frameworks help the R&D manager to dissect and debate typical R&D management problems such as: (i) selecting R&D projects, (ii) setting broad R&D objectives in the case of a given project and (iii) setting specific R&D goals to meet the said objectives. The frameworks also help the R&D manager to portray and present research achievements within a simple and intuitively appealing framework.     

Funding sources and the strategic roles of decentralised R&D in multinationals

This paper analyses the sources of funding accessed by laboratories of foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in the UK. The five separate sources of funding are systematically related to four different roles that such labs are seen to play. The results confirm the view that decentralised R&D in MNEs now plays significant and carefully defined roles in the technological and competitive evolution of these enterprises. The strong position of central group funds is seen to reflect two trends in the status of decentralised labs. Firstly, to support their willingness to activate strong local scientific inputs for longer-term and speculative (risky) research programmes. Secondly, to inculcate an acceptance of individual labs to operate within interdependent networks of group operations (precompetitive research or product development).     

Large European manufacturers and the management of R&D

At the end of 1984, for the third consecutive year, a research team from INSEAD administered a survey of the largest manufacturers in Europe. This survey attempts to provide an insight into the technological and manufacturing strategy designed and implemented by these large manufacturers.
Each year since 1982 about 150 companies have completed the questionnaire, and of these 150 replies about one third are repeat answers. The database thus covers about 350 companies. As a consequence this allows us not only to analyse the static picture for a single year, but also to draw a dynamic picture of how thinking about technological and manufacturing strategy is changing within the European Manufacturing Industry.
An analysis of the questionnaire's results allows us to assert some hypotheses about:
a. Changes in the length of the product lifecycle.
b. The importance of process engineering and proprietary process know-how.
c. The interface between manufacturing and research and development as perceived by the manufacturing side.
Since a similar survey is conducted for North America and Japan at the same time, it is possible to posit the European manufacturers vis-à-vis their global competitors for some of these issues.     

Towards networked R&D management: the R&D approach of Sonera Corporation as an example

In this paper the authors delineate the challenges of a dynamic environment to R&D management. The authors build on most recent ideas, such as the dynamic capability view of the firm, as strategic foundation for modern R&D management. Collaboration is emphasized as a meta-capability for innovation. These ideas are merged into a 'Networked R&D Management' approach that emphasizes internal and external collaboration networks as critical for companies operating in a dynamic business environment. The approach is illustrated with ICT industry as an example. The implementation of Networked R&D Management is reflected in the illustrative case discussion of R&D management of Sonera Corporation.     

Online R&D management: the way forward

The development of an intranet system in BT delivered far greater savings in 1996 than was originally estimated. BT decided to look at the advantages of online R&D management processes. Various features of the evolving system are described, including the proposal submission system or project requirements document, and tools and techniques to manage a global virtual laboratory.     

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.     

Top management roles in R&D projects

The work described in the paper is aimed at a better understanding of decision processes in ‘directed’ R&D. Specifically it focusses on the questions: What aspects of innovation does top management influence significantly?, and What are the effects of this influence? The kinds of influences looked at include technological, financial. marketing, timeliness and personnel factors as well as company characteristics. The overall hypothesis was that top management would be interested not only in ultimate objectives but also in intermediate objectives of shorter timespan. The research material consisted of answers to a 29-item questionnaire given by 107 management-level respondents in 13 sites. The questionnaires related to data on 154 projects including the degree of success data achieved. The results were analyzed to bring out main-effect factors on success and intercorrelations between factors. Overall the results supported the initial hypothesis that top management is concerned with shorter-term R&D matters as well as with the effects of R&D on long-term strategy. The influence appears to be more marked during early some stages the of factors projects than later. Interestingly of correlated with economic success are not correlated with top management support, although support is correlated directly with succes. On the whole, top management intervention appears to be operational rather than primarily strategic. The authors interpret observations as meaning that top management intervenes at irreversible decision points and on matters that affect other functions of the company but keeps out of some important issues that are beyond their control.     

Stakeholder analysis for R&D project management

R&D projects affect the interests of different stakeholders in different ways. Understanding the stakeholders and analysing their interests helps in the better management of R&D projects. In this paper we discuss a methodology to systematically analyse the stakeholders of R&D projects. This methodology includes Freeman's (1984) three levels of analysis: rational, process and transactional. Based on these three levels, the stakeholder management capability of an R&D project is determined. The final stage is based on Mitchell et al . (1997) approach to analysing the dynamics of stakeholders. This methodology is illustrated using a New Zealand case relating to a road pricing R&D project.     

Decision parameters in global R&D management

This paper addresses the question of which variables have what kind of impact on the decision to locate new R&D facilities in countries different from the home country of a corporation. In the first section of the paper we demonstrate the complexity of this question by referring to empirical research, managerial statements and literature. We then develop a conceptual model for the location decision of international R&D activities. This is based on Porter's (1990) framework of the factors constituting the competitive advantage of nations. In the final section of this paper we show how such a model helps us to understand and also to explain a number of management issues related to global R&D activities.     

R&D management through network mapping: using the Internet to identify strategic network actors in cooperative research networks

Most R&D management techniques to date have emphasized the immediate organizational context or the internal structure and process of the R&D project. Recently however attempts have been made at situating R&D management in a wider context of inter‐organizational R&D activities. This paper presents the technique of R&D network mapping as a means of providing strategic intelligence to the R&D manager. The paper backgrounds this technique with a discussion of the general issue and significance of R&D networks. A methodology for R&D network mapping is then exemplified by outlining how a network database of cooperating projects and institutes in the telecom research sector was built by utilizing the World Wide Web. Finally a number of suggestions are made as to how and when network mapping should be applied in strategic R&D management.     

Applying a system concept to R&D management

The author has long been an advocate of the systems approach to forecasting, particularly in the area of resource allocation. In making a number of seminar presentations to middle and senior management, both in the U. K. and the U. S. A., questions from the floor revealed that systems thinking is not as widespread as had been believed. While the media's past attention to the ‘Limits of Growth’ (Meadows, 1972) has communicated the impossibility of infinite expansion, many decision makers remain unaware of the closed-loop characteristics of the systems in which they work. On the contrary. While activities are often seen as the prime raison d'etre, the nature and origin of the driving force is often mis-interpreted and the modifying feed-back controls completely ignored. This paper, therefore, attempts to show that a basic closed-loop system is the only rational precursor to methodology development for decision making. If this action reveals the genuine system parameters then the researcher may well be performing his most helpful service to the decision maker.     

International management of R&D: The Swedish Experience

This paper summarizes the results of in-depth case studies of international R&D management in four Swedish multinational corporations. The results suggest that foreign volumes and shares of R&D expenditures are rapidly increasing. Through a rapidly increasing number of foreign acquisitions, foreign R&D laboratories have been added. As part of international rationalization of production, foreign units have been given global product mandates with responsibility both for manufacturing and R&D. In maturing foreign subsidiaries, routine technical activities have often evolved into proper R&D. Tight labour market conditions for engineers in Sweden have made it increasingly necessary to exploit existing technical capacity, regardless of location.
Concurrently, companies face new pressures for international coordination and control of R&D. Coordination is required to reduce product differentiation, to facilitate technology transfer and to ensure the technical and market compatibility of products and components developed at different locations but sold as part of total systems. Drawing on the experience in the four investigated companies, the paper discusses how systems and procedures can be developed to meet the need for coordinated international R&D management.     

Management of R&D for reduction of technological delay: a strategic viewpoint

The establishment and effective use of R&D potential is considered as a way to reduction of technological delay. On the basis of analysis of alternative starting positions of a follower on the technological scene the adequate trajectories for technological pursuit are drawn. Five strategies are indicated as the most typical ones. Illustration is given for respective strategies of pursuit based on S-shaped performance development within given technological generation. Conditions and limitations are indicated in order to adapt general analysis to the practice of a company willing to overcome the technological gap and/or reduce the existing delay.