Innovation, Research and Development Management

Foreword

We live in a world that the Anglo-Saxons call the “VUCA world”. In other words, our environment is characterized more and more by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. R&D (research and development) is no exception to this rule. While the strategic nature of innovation and its importance for the survival and success of businesses could hardly be questioned, the role of R&D departments and the modalities of their management remain an under-investigated topic. The following are the most common questions that arise: how does one organize R&D activities in the short, medium and long terms? How can one measure their effectiveness? What is the real added value and how could we measure the return on investment?

Globalization brings additional difficulties to R&D, as it questions not only the strategic positioning of this function inside organizations but also the very existence of the latter. Some ponder whether it would be more appropriate to refer to “C&D” (connect and develop) by exploring the resources outside of the company like start-ups or suppliers in order to avoid fixing long-term capital.

To clarify all these issues, in this book, we conduct a thorough analysis of the different types of R&D organizations, the recent advances in the field and the strategic choices made by different companies in transition.

R&D is a difficult area to define in a business because it is only partially subjected to the performance indicators commonly used by other functions ...