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This study investigates the organization and management of large research partnerships that form around risky, early stage, complex technologies. Rather than developing specific products ready for the market, large research partnerships with diverse memebership are more appropriate for combining the diverse resources and capabilities required to advance the state of the art in early stage technologies and to create standards, thus decreasing the uncertainty of subsequent research. Some form of effective central authority is desirable in order to galvanize a common vision for the partnership, to establish clear milestones, and to take the burden of day-to-day negotiation and decision-making. Too much or too little management concentration brings similar detrimental results: members feeling left out of the decision-making process and a perception of unfair distribution of power to influence the process and the vision of the partnership. Keywords: Public-private partnerships; Alliances; Risky research; Information technology; Healthcare

The work patterns of a multi-organizational, virtual, multi-team is reported on here. The teams successfully co-developed a complex aerospace product across, despite having limited experience working together and being significantly distanced geographically.

Research and development as an economic asset of a business enterprise is discussed.

OVERVIEWS: The integration of technology organizations is a key element in the success of mergers and acquisitions. Research managers benefit significantly by an awareness of the unique set of people and organizational management skills that impact the integration process. R&D leadership provides significant value to the process if it becomes involved early in the planning process and remains involved through due diligence and post-closing integration of the combined organizations. Successful managers devote special attention to developing a common vision of the new organization, conducting technical due diligence, retaining the R&D infrastructure, managing employees through change, integrating intellectual asset portfolios, and integrating disparate R&D cultures., Two assumptions underlie the unprecedented level of mergers and acquisitions in the global economy. The first is that shareholder value will increase significantly because the performance of the merged organizations [...]

Research is presented concerning the emphasis which has been given to collective research and the growing number of scientific papers published by collaborating scientists. Competition between scientists is discussed.

Research and development (R&D) organizations and their risk-taking are discussed. Risk can be used as a tool to manage innovation. Risk-taking is often said, in R&D, to be crucial to individual and organizational success, but risk must first be understood. If management publicly funds some work that makes sense because of potential big payoff even though probability of success is low, risk-taking is encouraged. If management takes risk, subordinates will see that and use it as a model. Desired behavior must be rewarded. Wise risk analysis is important. A theoretical model for the innovation process is diagrammed.

Cross-functional teams in the chemical industry increase employee performance and efficiency when developing new products. Corporate strategies, resources and objectives are also implemented and utilized more efficiently in this type of corporate structure.

Immersing research teams in the ethnic-cultural groups' culture will improve planning, design, and implementation of research projects. Considerations should include clarifying cultural values, team-building issues, increasing awareness, and supporting group and individual needs.

As teams become increasingly powerful tools for achieving business goals, the relationship between teams and the leaders responsible for their performance necessarily changes. A 34-company study has defined a new team-centered role for senior managers who lead multiple teams. The new role demands both translational and transformational leadership behavior, as well as the mastery of 16 key management practices in the areas of accountability, partnering, buy-in, coaching, and resources/systems. A second dimension of the new role is the creation of a positive working environment for teams by promoting and sustaining seven company characteristics linked to team results - characteristics such as customer satisfaction and communication.

The technology of knowledge work is often intangible in nature, embedded in the heads of specialists, making process improvement in R&D a unique challenge. However, key learnings from socio-technical system design and organizational development are being integrated into team work processes at Amoco Production Research to ensure that quality is built into at least three key areas: technology acquisition and generation, technology transfer, and technology utilization. Emphasis on defining and measuring performance and variance as they relate to non-linear processes has forced the organization to incorporate 'deliberation analysis' into its quality tool kit. Enhanced technology and group processes (cognitive mapping tools) have facilitated analysis of Amoco's existing technology system and project portfolio, and are helping to improve quality and customer focus, while driving organizational changes needed to support our business unit clientele.

The transformational leader strives to achieve results beyond what is normally expected by inspiring a sense of importance about the project group's mission, by stimulating professional employees to think about the problem or task in new ways, and by emphasizing group goals over personal self-interest. A study of 66 industrial R&D project groups found transformational leadership to account for higher project quality in research projects. In development projects, however, a more directive style of leadership explained higher project quality. Guidelines for effective leadership are suggested.

This article examines the concept of collaborative efforts within organizations, using the interface between purchasing personnel and scientists in research centers as the unit of analysis. The study indicates that [...]

AFTER NOT EVEN TWO FULL YEARS of active research, the plug apparently is being pulled on The Arkansas Institute, a much-heralded public policy research organization formed by a group of [...]

3-D images and virtual scenes revolutionize reading, from storybooks to textbooks Imagine reading a biology textbook and coming to a chapter on frogs. The illustrations on the page are helpful, [...]

The biomedical field adopts a systematic approach to innovation by creating product development teams with individuals that are spread around the world. The teams rely on communication technologies to maintain interactive lectures and projects. Key information on the teams, as well as on techniques such as quality functional deployment (QFD), are presented.

Research is presented concerning the increasing amount of research and development projects which are being carried out on a collaborative basis. The creative processes between and within research teams are discussed.

Creativity and innovation are important in the effectiveness of a research program, yet individual exploratory research has been deemphasized in industry and academia, although it is often the source of innovation and creativity. Few companies permit the kind of research that DuPont allowed under Ralph K. Iler, who felt assignments should not interfere with freedom to spend some unaccounted-for time. Discoveries on the solubility of silica came out of that environment. Topics include self-motivation/dedication/hard work, promotion out of research, recognition, the amateur spirit, and exploratory work.

North Derbyshire Health Commission and Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Royal Hospital National Health Service Trust work together to promote an understanding of research as a means of improving patient care. Representatives from the two bodies meet every eight weeks and have organised training days, held open meetings about research ideas and have published a research guide which is available nationally. The group has also set up a database outlining the research underway in the region.