Gestion De Tecnologias

Introduction

R & D is a major source of rejuvenation and growth for companies, providing an important

contribution to innovation and competitive advantage. Business invests heavily in

R & D because expectations from it are so high. In 2004 the business sector spent over

$350 billion on R & D in the OECD nations, accounting for over 69 per cent of their

total R & D expenditures (NSB 2006). Real levels of US R & D corporate expenditures

increased by 67 per cent in the decade up to 2004. Companies in industries such as

pharmaceuticals and IT commonly spend over 10 per cent of their annual sales on

R & D, which may constitute a significant proportion of a company’s activities. Almost

40 per cent of Nokia’s and one-third of Samsung Electronics’ employees, for example,

work in R & D. The high levels of investment in R & D and anticipation of and pressure

for its results are the major reasons why R & D is a significant issue for MTI.

This chapter examines the main issues in the management of R & D, including patterns

of expenditure, organizational structures, management of R & D teams, balancing

of R & D portfolios, its international management, and the evaluation and assessment

of research.

Why do firms do R & D?

Firms undertake R & D for a variety of reasons, including:

_ Supporting existing business activities.

_ Establishing new business developments.

_ Facilitating related business diversification.

_ Selling R & D services to other companies.

_ Providing the skills to help ‘reverse engineer’ competitors’ products and services (to

see how they work and how they were made).

_ Helping predict future technological trends.

Complying with regulations and social and political expectations.

_ Participating in research networks.

_ Portraying a positive corporate image.

_ Creating future options through new knowledge and technology.

As the Microsoft’s research director explained when discussing why the company had

created a central research laboratory, ‘it never hurts to have smart people around’

(Cusumano and Selby 1995).

The research productivity of private-sector R & D is clearly seen in the case of AT&T’s

‘Bell Labs’. Most of Bell Labs has been transferred to Alcatel-Lucent Technologies, and

focuses on short-term research. At its peak, however, Bell Labs had 25,000 R & D

employees. It was the birthplace of the transistor, laser, solarcell, light-emitting diode,

digital switching, communications satellite, electrical digital computer, cellular mobile

radio, long-distance TV transmission, sound motion pictures, and stereo recording. It

received more than 26,000 patents, averaging one per day since its founding in 1925, and

won six Nobel Prizes.

Firms commit resources to R & D in the expectation of future gains, but there are no

hard and fast external benchmarks for managers to decide the level of R & D funding.

There is no ‘optimal’ level. Expenditures by individual firms are often determined by the

expenditures of their competitors. It is common for firms to seek to match or exceed the

average level of R & D by sales in their sector. In recessions, however, R & D funds may

be severely curtailed. In the early 1990s, for example, many European construction firms

closed their R & D departments.

The nature of R & D is changing in many companies as shown in Box 6.1.

Box 6.1 ‘Connect and Develop’ at P&G

Procter and Gamble (P&G) is one of the world’s largest and most successful consumer businesses. It

operates in almost every country in the world, with net sales of over $40 billion and some 100,000

employees. Products include world-leading brands such as Pampers, Pringles, Ariel, and Tide.

P&G has a substantial R &Dorganization, with over 6,500 scientists. It has over 29,000 existing patents

with several thousand added every year,making P&G one of the largest holders of US and global patents.

Comparable companies in ownership of patents include Microsoft and Intel. On average, P&G spends

around $5 million on R & D and registers eight patents a day.

P&G possesses strong brands and is always looking for brand growth. However, it operates in an

extremely competitive, mature, global market, hence the company is continually searching for new, innovative

ideas. Throughout

...