A practical approach to R&D project selection

We present a technique to allocate available resources more systematically to competing R&D projects in a government laboratory setting. The technique is simpler than most models described in the literature, systematically utilizes the expertise of various organizational units in the corporation, and does not try to substitute complex calculations for good managerial judgment. The literature on R&D project selection models is briefly reviewed. Key factors identified are used to develop the approach. Details are presented on the sequence of the R&D project selection process through alternative levels of corporate management. Sample forms used for R&D ideas submittal and evaluation are included. Experiences gained from applying the approach in a large R&D laboratory are discussed.     

Joint R&D projects: Experiences in the context of European technology policy

Joint R&D projects have emerged as a significant model for the development of research and technological activities. Our study examines, through an exploratory analysis, the typology of joint R&D projects and the characteristics of R&D networks in which the projects are developed. In addition, the interrelation between the R&D projects in the context of European Technology Policy is analysed. Findings from survey data collected on joint R&D projects carried out in the context of European Framework Programmes indicate that three groups of R&D projects can be identified (invention, innovation and diffusion projects), and that each of these projects is managed inside the R&D network with a different degree of structuring and external opening. The analysis of interrelations between R&D projects also shows a low, non-linear and non-progressive interrelation. This conclusion is an important question to bear in mind in the design of scientific and technological policies.     

Using resources in R&D policy planning: Brazil, the Amazon and biotechnology

Brazil's research and development (R&D) policies are examined in light of changes in economic direction especially as it pertains to competition. In a competitive environment, regions should develop industrial applications and expertise in areas that coincide with their resources. These could be human resources but could, as in the focus of this paper, be useful resources that differentiate the region from others in the world. This differentiation provides an advantage to the region. Brazil and its Amazon region has the large majority of the world's rare genes. In biotechnology, genes are “green gold,” and Brazil is slowly developing a biotechnology industry and beginning to tap into the Brazilian Amazon region's economic biotech potential. This region has enormous potential for the development of biotech-related technologies and products. This paper discusses the relationship between resources and an R&D strategy using as an example the recent developments in biotechnology research in Brazil and the role of the Amazon region in the development of a Brazilian biotechnology industry. It recommends a number of policy initiatives that will enhance Brazil's focus on biotechnology.     

Business process re-engineering: experiences in R&D

This study presents information drawn from leading transnational organizations headquartered in the US that are, to different degrees, involved in restructuring their R&D. Interviews were conducted with three companies in the chemical/pharmaceutical industry and three in electronics/information technology. All companies interviewed agreed on the need to organize their R&D more effectively in order to meet consumer demands and respond to competitive pressure. There are significant differences in the extent to which each company is involved in organizational change as well as their approach to such changes. The interview findings indicate that global re-engineering and business transformation programmes are being carried out. We identify the application of such approachs, men though thg may be initiated under other names.     

How to promote R&D-based growth? Public education expenditure on scientists and engineers versus R&D subsidies

This paper compares the positive and normative implications of two alternative measures to promote R&D-based growth: R&D subsidies to firms and publicly provided education targeted to the development of science and engineering (S&E) skills. The model accounts for the specificity of S&E skills, where individuals with heterogeneous ability choose their type of education. Although intertemporal knowledge spillovers are the only R&D externality, the analysis suggests that R&D subsidies may be detrimental to both productivity growth and welfare. Moreover, they raise earnings inequality. In contrast to R&D subsidies, publicly provided education targeted to S&E skills are found to be unambiguously growth-promoting and neutral with respect to the earnings distribution.     

Strategic niche management: towards a policy tool for sustainable development

Strategic niche management (SNM) is a recently developed approach that could help induce a broad socio-technical transition towards more sustainable development. It is designed to facilitate the introduction and diffusion of new sustainable technologies through protected societal experiments in fields such wind energy, biogas, public transport systems, electric vehicle transport and eco-friendly food production. A major challenge in SNM concerns the processes by which such experiments can evolve into viable market niches and ultimately contribute to a broader shift towards sustainable development. This paper sheds more light on this issue by systematically consolidating the main SNM studies, and by bringing in new insights from the literature that is in some sense complementary to SNM. These are studies on the development and commercialisation of radical innovations in large companies, and literature about infant industry protection and broader industrialisation processes in developing countries. A number of suggestions for implementing SNM are given.     

Integration of Technology Assessment in R&D Management Practices

This paper addresses the question of how technology assessment (TA) can be best integrated in the managment of R&D both at the laboratory and the policy level. The main objective is to present a conceptual framework to situate and evaluate the actual and possible TA infrastructure in Europe. The paper consists of three distinct sections. In section one, the concept and practice of TA are briefly introduced with an emphasis on their actual institutionalizations in Europe. Section two presents a conceptual framework of R&D managment at four levels: the R&D environment, the R&D institution, the R&D process, and the R&D project. The relationship between TA and R&D management is explored for each of the four levels. Finally, in section three the concept of and motives for TA integrated within the laboratory work of scientists and engineers are presented. The basic argument of this paper is that by promoting the integration of TA in R&D managment practices, a significant contribution can be made to (1) increasing the cost-efficiency of research and (2) increase the social responsiblity of scientists. The authors therefore draw up a conceptual framework for the development of R&D-integrated TA practices called Integrated Technology Assessment (ITA).     

Managing global research and development in China: Patterns of R&D configuration and evolution

The growing internationalization of R&D activities challenges multinational corporations (MNCs) to formulate technology strategies and manage increasingly diffuse and diverse networks of R&D laboratories and alliances in the context of disparate national institutions. This paper examines the evolutionary processes of MNCs' R&D strategies in China in terms of two principal dimensions, i.e. geographic dispersion and functional focus. Based on a study of 378 international R&D centers and alliances established in China over the 1995-2001 period, we investigate the evolution of managing international R&D configurations in an emerging economy. The model is further illustrated with key findings from case studies of three leading high-tech MNCs in managing their global R&D operations in China over 1996-2004, specifically Fujitsu, Motorola and Nokia. This study contributes to the existing literature by exploring the globalization of R&D through foreign centers of scientific and technological excellence, which enables MNCs to innovate closer to their product markets and manufacturing facilities in emerging markets.     

Strategic control of technology in diversified companies with decentralized R&D

This paper analyzes current trends in the strategic management of technology in a sample of 25 companies. It is particularly concerned with the balance of responsibility between the corporate level and the business unit level for accumulation of technological assets. It is argued that preuious tendencies to decentralize these issues, along with K & D operations, to the business unit level are being partially rtversed. A new paradigm of corporate management of technological assets is identified. This analysis is then used in conjunction with existing taxonomies of innovation strategy and corporate strategy to propose a new taxonomy of corporate technology strategies.     

From R&D management to knowledge management: An overview of studies of innovation management

This article is intended to establish links and seek connections between the contributions made to the study of innovatory phenomena. Specifically, it analyzes the evolution undergone by studies on the topic of the technological innovation (TI) process carried out by different disciplines from the point of view of the objectives they pursue and the suppositions on which they are based. Hence, it attempts to provide evidence for the relationships existing between research done at macro level (sociology, history, economics, and industrial economics) and that undertaken at micro level (management).     

Deregulation in an energy market and its impact on R&D for low-carbon energy technology

This paper analyzes the impact of deregulation in an energy market on R&D activities for new energy technology when climate policy is implemented. A model of growth with vertical innovation is modified by including an oligopolistic energy supply sector for demonstrating to what extent deregulation in the energy supply sector will affect R&D activities for low-carbon energy technology, provided that carbon taxation is implemented. The analysis shows that, when the elasticity of substitution between input factors is less than unity, deregulation will drive energy R&D activities and reduce CO₂ accumulation if the energy market is highly concentrated in the beginning.     

On the effects of human capital and R&D policies in an endogenous growth model

We introduce an external effect of existing technologies in human capital accumulation in an endogenous growth model and describe its steady-state and transition. We numerically solve the model to compare the quantitative effects of R&D policy with the quantitative effects of human capital policy in wealth and welfare. Although R&D subsidies have now an overall positive effect on growth, wealth and welfare, the calibration exercise shows that for plausible values for the parameters, human capital policy is simultaneously the most income and welfare-improving and the less expensive to the government.     

From Imitation to Innovation: The Evolution of R&D Capabilities and Learning Processes in the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry

Since the mid 1990s the Indian pharmaceutical industry has emerged as a leading supplier of generic drugs to both developing and developed countries.The movement of the Indian pharmaceutical industry along the R&D value chain represents a remarkable shift from an importer to an innovator of drugs. The Indian government's industrial and technology policies along with changes in regulation of intellectual property rights played a crucial role in shaping this development of R&D capability. Using the 'capability creation model' this paper discusses the learning processes and stages involved in this dramatic accumulation of technological capability. This analysis shows that the Indian pharmaceutical industry has followed a trajectory from duplicative imitation to creative imitation to move up the value chain of pharmaceutical R&D. Finally as a result of changes in patent law the industry is learning to develop capabilities in innovative R&D. The basic and intermediate technological capabilities gained from imitative learning gave these firms a solid base for development of competence in advanced innovative R&D. These findings have implications for government policies as well as firm strategies in other developing countries albeit with some limitations due to global harmonisation of patent laws being promoted by the World Trade Organization.     

R&D spillovers, information technology and telecommunications, and productivity in ASIA and the OECD

This paper examines the role research and development (R&D) plays in technology progress for a sample of OECD and Asian economies from 1980 to 1995. An empirical model is estimated which relates total factor productivity to domestic and foreign R&D activity, trade, and information technology and telecommunications (ITT). Model estimates confirm a positive relationship between national productivity and R&D activity exists in the long run. Further, the benefits of R&D can spillover countries through trade, in particular, trade in ITT equipment.     

Strategic planning in public R&D organizations for agribusiness: Brazil and the United States of America

There is increasing evidence that public organizations dedicated exclusively to research and development (R&D) in agribusiness need systematic management tools to incorporate the uncertainties and complexities of technological and nontechnological factors of external environments in its long-term strategic plans. The major issues are: “What will be the agribusiness science and technology (S&T) needs be in the future?” “How to prepare in order to meet these needs?” Both Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Embrapa), attached to the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) have developed a comprehensive strategic and operational planning process in order to answer these key questions in the 1990s. The main objective of this article is to present a comparative and preliminary analysis of concepts, methodologies, and processes utilized, and some results obtained by these public organizations.     

Using Delphi for a Long-Range Technology Forecasting, and Assessing Directions of Future R&D Activities The Korean Exercise

This article summarizes and discusses major findings of the Korean Delphi. The Korean Delphi was first carried out on a large scale. The results of the Korean Delphi include the forecast time of realization and an evaluation of importance for about 1200 technological topics. The forecast time of realization was estimated and compared in both Korea and the world's leading countries. We also provide a comparison of the Delphi results among Korea, Japan, and Germany, with some topics in common in the areas of information, electronics, and communications technology. This study interprets the results of the Delphi and explores the future directions of R&D activities with relevance to the Korean Society.     

Large Firms and Knowledge Flows in the Dutch R&D System: A Case Study of Philips Electronics

This paper uses data on patent-to-patent citations and patent-to-science-literature citations to study the spillover network of companies and research institutes around Philips Electronics. The theoretical section of the paper surveys the literature on innovation regimes and regional systems of innovation, and uses this to derive a number of testable hypotheses on the Philips network. The main findings of the paper are that the importance of local firms in the technology network around Philips is small, but the impact of local (semi-)public institutes is larger. Also, it is found that large firms generate a large part of the scientific literature that is referred to in Philips patents.     

The links between competitiveness, firms' innovative activities and public R&D support in Germany: an empirical analysis

Industrial competitiveness is becoming an increasingly important issue. In years of recession, some companies perform worse on domestic markets or lose export shares. Most investigations of the competitiveness of nations are based on macro-economic data. But a country is not much like a business. This paper tries to provide a new answer based on science and technology indicators and econometric analysis, Competitiveness is studied on the micro-economic level for a sample of 161 domestic or foreign-owned companies located in westem Germany. Zieir competitiveness is measured by two indicators: the trading result (i.e. either the net profit or loss) and the export share of (local) production. Statistics on investment and patents do not sufficiently explain competitiveness, but the scientfic potential of the firms significantly explains the competitiveness, but, it seems to be the science base of technological activities that determines competitiveness. Public subventions facilitate scientific and technological activities in industry. It is particularly interesting to note that government support is oriented towards the science base of the client companies.     

The development of research and innovation policies based on a benchmarking assessment: the case of mobile communications technology R&D in the new member states of the EU

This paper presents the process and the results that led to an objective assessment of 34 research programmes from 14 countries based on a multifactor analysis. The programmes that were analysed come from the EU's new member states and the accession countries. The methodology used was specially developed for policy development purposes and for the design of the roadmaps leading to an open and successful R&D programme in the area of mobile communications. The method and the results obtained and later used for the policy development and road mapping are discussed. The policies designed and strategic objectives derived are briefly described. The consequences expected to follow the policy implementation in the relevant countries are evaluated and discussed.