AbstractIntegration of R&D and production activities poses a major managerial problem, which arises because of fundamental differences in the nature of the two kinds of activity, requiring distinctly different management systems. A study of 100 teams of both types showed marked differences between the two in the organizational climate leading to maximum effectiveness. A taxonomy of organizational types, integrating the two activities in a spectrum of ways, is described. A study conducted among Polish electrical engineering enterprises showed that project‐type organizations produced products with the greatest degree of originality (measured on the Kesselring scale), while matrix organizations introduced the greatest number of new products into the organizational system. A venture team concept, combining features of both organizational types, is proposed as a means for capitalizing on the good points of eac