Engineers and PCs

The results of an in-depth survey conducted to determine the role IBM-compatible and Macintosh computers play in the daily lives of IEEE Spectrum readers is presented. About 45% of the respondents were in management; 9% were in general or corporate management, and the majority were engineering managers or project leaders/engineers. About 20% of the respondents were involved with R&D or design and development, either as managers or hands-on engineers. Among the many findings summarized here, the survey shows that most of the respondents use high-end personal computers, but more for business than for engineering     

A comparison of R&D project termination factors in fourindustrial nations

With firms establishing R&D facilities abroad, it is important for R&D managers to understand how decisions are made and the factors that affect them in different countries. The decision to terminate an ongoing R&D project is made based on a number of factors. Some of these are objective and based on actual data, while others are mostly qualitative and subjective. Previous studies have identified a number of factors found to be important in the context of firms in the United States. Some recent studies have identified such factors in Germany and in the United Kingdom. This study examines the factors in the Japanese context in addition to the three countries. It further compares these factors from the four countries and provides some explanations for the similarities and the differences between the factors. Based on the results of this comparative study it suggests the implications for R&D management     

A Group Decision Support Approach to Evaluate Experts for R&D Project Selection

In R&D project selection, experts (or external reviewers) always play a very important role because their opinions will have great influence on the outcome of the project selection. It is also undoubted that experts with high-expertise level will make useful and professional judgments on the projects to be selected. So, how to measure the expertise level of experts and select the most appropriate experts for project selection is a very significant issue. This paper presents a group decision support approach to evaluate experts for R&D project selection. Where the criteria and their attributes for evaluating experts are summarized mainly based on the experience with the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). A formal procedure that integrates both objective and subjective information on experts is also presented. It is mainly based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP), scoring method, and fuzzy linguistic processing. A group decision support system is designed and implemented for illustration of the proposed method.     

Leading engineering teams: leader behaviors related to teamperformance

The author examines the relationship between leader behaviors and engineering team performance. Data were collected for 18 engineering teams (nine research, nine nonresearch) from manufacturing and aerospace organizations located in Rocky Mountain, Midwest, and East Coast regions of the United States. Results indicate that both team members and leaders believed that providing autonomy and initiating structure were important leader behaviors; however, neither of these behaviors was significantly correlated with team performance as evaluated by managers external to the team. Members also believed that leaders should exhibit personal commitment to the team goal and show consideration for team members. Specific leader behaviors were significantly correlated with team performance only for those teams with a research purpose. For such teams, public relations activities performed by leaders were important     

Following the leader in R&D: the joint effect of subordinateproblem-solving style and leader-member relations on innovative behavior

There have been relatively few theoretically-based empirical studies of leadership in research and development (R&D) settings despite theoretical indications of its importance. Some recent studies have found support for a relationship between transformational leadership and R&D project success. In the current study, the authors discuss the transactional and transformational nature of leader-member-exchange (LMX) theory. They then develop hypotheses regarding the relationship of LMX and problem-solving style to individual innovative behavior. They tested these hypotheses in two independent samples of R&D professionals. The results of hierarchical regression supported the hypotheses; innovative behavior was negatively related to associative and positively related to bisociative problem-solving style and innovative behavior was positively related to LMX. Further, LMX explained variance in innovative behavior beyond that explained by problem-solving style alone. This relationship was shown to hold regardless of the type of task in which the R&D professionals were engaged. Implications for theory and for practising managers are discussed     

Variables influencing the performance of defense R&Dcontractors

Several variables affect the performance of contractors on defense research and development (R&D) contracts. These variables can be classified as endogenous or exogenous. Endogenous variables are influenced by the project manager and the contracting officer, while exogenous variables are not. The effects of four endogenous variables on contractor performance are examined. These variables are: type of R&D, type of solicitation, type of contract, and size of business of the contractor. Surveys were conducted in 1978 and 1986 on completed R&D contracts. The measurement factors used were technical performance, schedule, quality of reports/products, cost, and overall assessment. A two-way analysis of variance was used to examine how the endogenous variables influenced the contractor performance. The authors conclude that, except for size of business, all variables had an effect on some of the performance factors. The recommendations include a proposed new contracting approach for major development contracts. This approach is based upon life-cycle cost minimization, and it favors the use of cost contracts over fixed price in the later stages of development     

Message and source factors, market uncertainty, and extrafunctionalinformation processing: hypotheses and empirical evidence

This article examines how the perceived quality of extrafunctional information improves the innovation management process and contributes to success with innovations. Data collected from 420 Japanese managers and 270 US managers are used to test hypotheses about the antecedents of satisfaction with extra-functional information and the impacts on new product performance. The results demonstrate that the level of marketing and R&D managers' satisfaction with extrafunctional information is an important predictor of new product success and financial performance. The results also show that marketing and R&D managers differ significantly in their preferences and criteria for evaluating extrafunctional information. The empirical evidence suggests that the factors that increase R&D's satisfaction with market information are not necessarily the same as those that increase marketing's satisfaction with R&D satisfaction. Each functional area should recognize which message factors are most related to high satisfaction with received information, and emphasize these when sending such information. The authors also discovered the moderating effects of market and technical uncertainty that should provide guidance for marketing and R&D managers on how to allocate their efforts in information transfer based on the external environment. The empirical findings also revealed some cross-cultural differences, as well as a few similarities, between US and Japanese respondents     

The R&D cycle: the influence of product and process R&D onshort-term ROI

The purposes of this paper are first to explore the relationship between the total R&D budget and two major components, product and process R&D, and second, to examine the relationship between these two types of R&D and the profitability of the business. The paper explores a cyclical pattern in the relationship between product and process R&D on the one hand and the short-term return on investment (ROI) of the business on the other hand. The total level of R&D investment plays a key role in this relationship. The foundation of this paper is based on prior work about the changing role of R&D over the life cycle of a new product or a new technology. It is also based on the notions of the S-curve response function and the limited compatibility between product and process R&D. The empirical part of the paper is derived from the PIMS database where the sampling units are strategic business units (SBUs). It is, therefore, different from studies where the focus of analysis is a single product or technology. Two forms of analysis are presented: correlation analysis of the hypothesized relationship and nonparametric tests of the stability of findings. The analysis assumes a lagged relationship between the investment in R&D and performance in terms of ROI. The primary conclusion is that product and process R&D modestly affect ROI two years later. The relationship appears to be different depending on the level of total R&D spending     

Organization, autonomy, and success of internationally dispersedR&D facilities

The organization and autonomy of internationally dispersed R&D facilities and their influence on the success of R&D are analyzed from the point of view of their headquarters. It is shown that different organizational structures for internationally dispersed R&D are connected with specific degrees of autonomy. The three classical success factors-timing, performance, and budgeting-for measuring project success can be identified. Although quite a few R&D facilities are left with a high degree of autonomy, these units are not perceived, with respect to these success factors, to be as successful as those facilities with a lower degree of autonomy and a low degree of centralization     

Managing the internationalization of R&D activities

The increasing dispersion of R&D laboratories in different countries force multinational firms to take a global view in managing their research operations and to make efforts to coordinate their dispersed R&D. Few studies have so far investigated whether or not international R&D structures exist, and how forms of division of labor, interdependencies, and coordination among geographically dispersed units take place. This paper proposes a taxonomy of international R&D structures and attempts to identify why and how they are designed as they are. It is based on the findings of field research on 12 multinational companies. It shows that the shape of the structure is dependent on the type of R&D activity, namely the longer time horizon of the research activity the more dispersed structure tend to be. Moreover, the structural outcome seems to be strongly influenced by two variables: the degree of dispersion of external sources of knowledge, and the degree of dispersion of the key internal R&D resources. These factors in turn are dependent on both industry- and firm-specific variables. This helps explain why the international R&D structural outcome varies from industry to industry and from firm to firm within the same industry     

Challenges to manufacturing submicron, ultra-large scale integratedcircuits

It is argued that the cost of manufacturing submicron, ultra-large-scale integration (ULSI) integrated circuits (ICs) (which is scaling upward at least in inverse proportion to the downward scaling of device feature sizes) is driven by a parameter budget crisis associated with the technological and complexity limits of IC design and fabrication. This budget crisis is defined for technologies associated with patterning, mechanical control, thermal treatments, particulates and contamination, defects, electrical parameters, and manufacturing, R&D priorities for silicon ULSI are identified and quantified, and the potential impact of some recent research results is discussed. It is pointed out that the R&D agenda to deal with the ULSI manufacturing budget crisis is enormous, and the semiconductor industry cannot perform all of it. Since the time for transferring new developments into production tools and technologies is five to seven years, it is concluded that critical funding decisions need to be made now for ULSI manufacturing science breakthroughs by the turn of the century     

To terminate or not an ongoing R&D project: a managerialdilemma

This empirical study attempts to develop a framework to assist managers in deciding whether to abandon an ongoing research and development (R&D)/innovation project at various stages of R&D. The monitoring framework is based upon the models developed through multiple logistic regression analysis on a data set of 60 successful and unsuccessful projects. The technique determines those factors which discriminate between success and failure of a project. The major advantage of the proposed framework is that it provides a single indicator which can be used to monitor the success of an ongoing project at various stages over its life span. The indicator incorporates the combined effect of all the factors and avoids the problem of setting thresholds for individual factors or success indicators     

Instrumental and supportive use of formal selection methods inR&D project selection

Although a large body of literature exists about the use of formal selection techniques (FST) in the selection of research and development (R&D) projects, most of it has focused on the instrumental use of the techniques and much scepticism exists about their value. Very little attention has been paid to the political or supportive use of the techniques, though project selection is often a political process. This study uses a two by two analytical framework combining these two forms of use. An empirical analysis of 149 individuals in 149 different companies describing 258 R&D selection decisions uses discriminant analysis to identify the determinants of the four different kinds of use at three levels of analysis: the individual, the project, and the organization. Considerable consistency is shown across levels and the importance of the supportive/political use of FST is emphasized     

Technological Intensity of Sectors, Size of the Firms and Competencies of Network Evidence from French Industrial Firms

The aim of this article is to stress the importance of competencies to build network in the innovation process. Innovation is not only R＆D but is often supporting by networks and relations that differ according to the size of the firm and the sector. We propose an empirical analysis, based on logit model, for French industrial firms. It appears that size and technological intensity of the sector affect positively the detention of networking competencies.     

Corporate R&D strategy portfolio in Japanese and Australiantechnology-based firms: an empirical study

This paper presents an empirical study on the strategic structure of corporate R&D in Japanese and Australian technology-based companies. The perceived importance and distribution of basic research, precompetitive strategic research and applied research within a corporate R&D portfolio are examined through a comparative analysis of survey data. The results suggest that Japanese firms tend to place great emphasis on basic and precompetitive strategic research, although applied research still retains its importance. They recognize that basic research is critical to achieve long-term competitive advantages in the marketplace. Australian firms also realize the importance of basic research and the use of portfolio approach in R&D management. However, research work in Australian firms tends to focus on applied research with only a limited involvement in medium- and long-term research. Finally, it is concluded that Japanese firms utilize a portfolio approach to corporate R&D management more systematically than do their Australian counterparts     

External-internal linkages and overseas autonomy-control tension:the management dilemma of the Japanese R&D in Europe

By examining how external/internal linkages held by overseas R&D labs affect autonomy-control tension within multinational corporations (MNCs), managerial dilemmas pertinent to international R&D management are discussed, especially in the context of internationalization of Japanese R&D in Europe. R&D is liable to be affected by high autonomy-control tension due to countervailing institutional forces at the functional level (research/corporate) and the geographical level (host country/home country). The external linkages an overseas R&D lab develops tend to increase the expected degree of local autonomy vis-a-vis the parent. The external linkages tend to increase the need for internal control on the part of the parent, especially when such sensitive issues as intellectual property rights and research initiatives are involved. Managers use internal linkages as a condition based on which local autonomy can be granted. Similarly, a high degree of internal linkages tends to decrease the difficulty of internal control and would even allow for some potential increase in local autonomy. An alternative multinational linkage strategy becomes necessary for the Japanese MNCs in the era of global R&D management in which the conventional social/cultural control mechanism may break down. This paper attempts to provide a basic framework which enables the association of such differences in linkage patterns with autonomy-control tension in a systematic way so that some new insight would be obtained regarding this classic yet unresolved tension     

Conditional stochastic dominance in R&D portfolio selection

This paper describes a methodology for the selection of research and development (R&D) projects to add to or remove from an existing R&D portfolio. The analysis uses the criterion of conditional stochastic dominance to make selection recommendations. This criterion takes into account the effect of a given project on the risk and return of the existing portfolio. The authors use a methodology previously employed to analyze stock portfolios; however, they apply it using simulation in an R&D portfolio context. They apply the methodology to the portfolios of two actual companies and find that it generates priorities very close to those developed by internal company heuristics. They conclude that this methodology can be applied appropriately in these circumstances and that its recommendations are consistent with observed decision maker behavior. Their results suggest that an R&D manager should not consider project selection decisions in isolation, but, following this methodology, should take into account the context of the existing portfolio     

Determinants of Corporate R&D Investment: An Empirical Study Comparing Korea's IT Industry with Its Non‐IT Industry

In our study, we extracted the market, finance, and government factors determining R&D investment of individual firms in the IT industry in Korea. We collected the financial data of 515 individual firms belonging to IT and non‐IT industries between 1980 and 1999 from the Korea Investors Service's database and investigated the empirical relationship between the factors using an ordinary regression model, a fixed effects model, and a random effects model. The main findings of our study are as follows: i) The Herfindahl Index variable representing the degree of market concentration is statistically insignificant in explaining R&D expenditures in the IT manufacturing industry. ii) Assets, which is used as a proxy variable for firm size, have a positive and statistically significant coefficient. These two results suggest that the Schumpeterian Hypothesis may be only partially applied to the IT manufacturing industry in Korea. iii) The dividend variable has a negative value and is statistically significant, indicating that a tendency of high dividends can restrict the internal cash flow for R&D investment. iv) The sales variable representing growth potential shows a positive coefficient. v) The subsidy as a proxy variable for governmental R&D promotion policies is positively correlated with R&D expenditure. This suggests that government policy has played a significant role in promoting R&D activities of IT firms in Korea since 1980. vi) Using a dummy variable, we verified that firms reduced their R&D investments to secure sufficient liquidity under the restructuring pressure during Korea's 1998 and 1999 economic crisis.