Title: The new agenda for R&D: Strategy and integration

Authors: Roger Miller

Addresses: Chaire Hydro-Quebec/CRSNG/CRSH, Universite du Quebec a Montreal; SECOR 555, boul. Rene-Levesque ouest, 9e etage, Montreal (Quebec) H2Z 1B1, Canada

Abstract: The R&D game is played in different competitive contexts. A study of sixty-nine firms led to the identification of four contexts: (i) technology races, (ii) learning in technological systems, (iii) technical parity competition, and (iv) market contests. For each type of competitive context, different forms of integration of R&D into the business have been observed: (i) R&D at the science-frontier, (ii) revenue-dependency, (iii) cross-functional integration, and (iv) strategic arena R&D. The quality movement has found successive applications in manufacturing, marketing and new product engineering. Recently, the requirement by many clients that suppliers be certified by third parties and the need to improve the performance of R&D raises the question of the applicability of quality approaches to R&D. Our argument is that the quality movement is applicable to R&D as it brings a new cognitive mindset to the concern of managing R&D effectively. Firms stand to gain enormously from R&D functions that operate with high levels of awareness and strategic orientation.

Keywords: innovation efficiency; organisational forms; R&D management; R&D integration; learning; research and development; quality management; strategic management; strategy; technology races; technology management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.1995.025640

International Journal of Technology Management, 1995 Vol.10 No.4/5/6, pp.511 - 524

Published online: 23 May 2009 *

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