Managing Research, Development, and Innovation: Managing the Unmanageable, Third Edition

13.8. CASE STUDY IN ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

Hank Shakes the Technical Ladder Gale Cutler, Research-Technology Management: May–June 2007 With the retirement of Tom Evers after 20 years as XYZ's R&D vice president, company management was forced to look outside for a replacement. They eventually selected Henry (Hank) Sympson, a senior scientist from one of the company's suppliers. Hank boasted a long list of significant achievements, many of which had benefited XYZ, so it was not surprising that management looked to him to revitalize some of its R&D activities and improve the development of new or improved products, which had been lagging in the last few years. Hank set to work quickly to acquaint himself with the technical personnel makeup of R&D. ...