Title: Mission-based strategic management model for national R&D programs in Republic of Korea

Authors: Jae-Keun Lee

Addresses: e-Commerce Department, Semyung University, 65 Semyung-ro, Jecheon-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, 27136, South Korea

Abstract: Korea began rapidly industrialising in the early 1980s, following a drastic increase in its R&D budget. However, continued growth has made national R&D program governance complex and has created a chronic overlap in R&D investments. This study proposes a systematic approach for the effective management of Korea's national R&D programs. The discussion begins by reviewing each program's raison d'être. Although a program's mission is often only vaguely described in the literature, this study devises a set of selected and structured components comprised of four essential dimensions: purpose, philosophy, definition, and goals. Mission fulfilment and uniqueness form a framework for a strategic program portfolio model. The study explains that a mission-based model enables the comprehensive life-cycle management of a set of programs. In addition, this study presents an empirical example to demonstrate the validity of the model and elicit its implications.

Keywords: national R&D program; NRDP; Republic of Korea; governance; mission; strategic program portfolio model; SPPM; mission construct; mission fulfilment; mission uniqueness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2022.123739

International Journal of Technology Management, 2022 Vol.89 No.3/4, pp.253 - 269

Accepted: 14 Sep 2021
Published online: 01 Jul 2022 *

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