Innovation, Research and Development Management

1R&D and New Competitive Challenges: Between Intensive Innovation Strategy and Internationalization

R&D activity has always occupied a central place in the strategy of large enterprises and in the competitive performance of states. Recently, with a significant change in the competitive environment of companies (such as, for example, competition with new emerging countries, intensive innovation policies, changes in customers’ expectations and transformation of business models) innovation and R&D have become essential for both company and national competitiveness.

In this chapter, we first present the relationship between R&D and company strategy and the different generations of R&D and their characteristics, which are currently possible to identify over a long period of time. We then identify and describe the main factors that influence R&D strategy in companies, emphasizing their impacts on the construction of new R&D models. Finally, it provides a practical illustration of the latest developments in the R&D sphere through the presentation of policies that Western companies have implemented in their Chinese subsidiaries.

1.1. Strategy and R&D

The place of R&D in the company is closely linked to technological innovation, particularly in its strategy. It is important to note that innovation is not simply an invention, but it is the result of a design process that a market has endorsed. Ultimately, it is about successfully bringing to market profitable requests (products or services), ...