摘要:

AbstractAt this time, following a protracted period of recession, many companies have need to add to or change their technological base. For a company whose basic business is founded on a mature technology and unlikely to recover to its former level of activity, there is need to consider the transition process into a new area of development. For companies, on the other hand, whose businesses are inherently sound but now find themselves lagging behind technologically because of cut‐backs and economies in their R&D spend during the recession, some process of catching up may be necessary. In either case, internal development is a possibility but, it is argued, unlikely to be able to act fast enough or to be of sufficient magnitude to make even catching up possible. The acquisition of know‐how is an alternative course of action but one which companies can be loath to follow. These statements are supported by evidence on international comparisons of R&D expenditure, and on the national ratios of royalty payments and receipts in respect of know‐how. The circumstances under which companies should consider such acquisition, and the strategic considerations guiding which know‐how to purchase, are di

ISSN:0033-6807    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9310.1985.tb00037.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1985

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThe importance of market research to new industrial product ventures has been widely noted, and some evidence has suggested that failure of managers to carry out effective research can increase the probability of new product failure. In planning for market research, a problem facing managers is when market research should be done during the new product development process. In this study, patterns of timing of market research resource expenditures in 112 industrial new product situations were measured, and differences in these patterns related to seven major situational characteristics, marketing task similarity, distribution complexity, competitive advantage, buyer risk, development complexity, project downsides and project payoffs.Data analysis using MDA revealed significant differences between the patterns of research timing in different new product situations, and related these differences most strongly to marketing task similarity, competitive advantage, and buyer risk. The findings have important implications for managers involved in planning market research activities and resource allocations in new industrial product situations.

ISSN:0033-6807    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9310.1985.tb00038.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1985

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractIt has been empirically observed that ‘under‐standing user need’ and ‘good internal and external communications’ are factors which discriminate strongly between commercially successful industrial product and process innovations and those that fail. The research reported in this paper examines how the innovating firm achieves desirable levels of these factors through multiple and continuous interaction with the user throughout the innovation process.In the sample of thirty‐four medical equipment innovations from eleven companies, twenty six (76 per cent) were developed through multiple and continuous interaction, resulting in twenty two (65 per cent) of these being successful.There appear to be two major reasons for this high level of interaction: (1) the requirement that any equipment that is to be potentially introduced into clinical use first needs clinical assessment and trial; and (2) the ‘state of the art’ clinical and diagnostic knowledge resides in the user. A special relationship is, therefore, needed between the clinical advisory and trial team on the one hand and the manufacturer on the other.The introduction to this paper reviews the findings of other work in the examination of the role of the user in the innovation process. Details of the sample, the methods of sample selection and classification of the data follow in section 2. The results of the research are summarised in section 3. These detail the nature of the medical equipment innovation process, identifying in particular the high level of interaction between the user, intermediaries and the manufacturer, resulting in good communications and understanding of user need. Section 4 attempts to determine the significance of these results for the effective management of innovation and suggest areas for f

ISSN:0033-6807    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9310.1985.tb00039.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1985

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractIn considering the application of expert systems to the practice of R&D management, an age‐old conflict continues to plague those who would be innovators—proper consideration of the need to evaluate information both systematically and intuitively. Operations researchers/management scientists can, and often do, find that the results of their arduous efforts to develop sophisticated models, algorithms, and statistical validation techniques are less than satisfactory to decision‐makers. The reason, they are told, is that their systematic approach did not, and could not, give proper weight to the incommensurables.This paper discusses the concept that significant contributions could be made to lessen the occurrence of this dilemma by combining judgment analysis techniques with appropriately designed decision support systems. Current levels of performance/price ratios for computing systems are such that meaningful research can be undertaken to test the validity of this hypothesis. A research design is outlined and some recommendations presented toward tha

ISSN:0033-6807    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9310.1985.tb00040.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1985

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Abstract272 scientific and technical personnel working in the R&D departments of 25 firms in the electronics/instrumentation field noted how often their managers engaged in different forms of influencing them to use scientific and technical information originating outside the firm (STI). The firms were classified as either ‘high performers’ or as ‘low performers’ on the basis of their sales growth and return on assets. Managers in the high performing firms were perceived to make significantly more use of the following forms of influence than those in low performing firms; supporting professional visits and continuing education, routing literature and references to scientific and technical staff, directing their staff to use STI and purchasing STI services. There was no difference between the two groups of managers in their perceived use of organizational efforts to increase use of STI, such as changing work and personnel and altering hiring and promotional policies. These findings suggest that company performance can be improved if managers take specific steps to encourage their staff to

ISSN:0033-6807    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9310.1985.tb00041.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1985

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Technological Innovation: University Roles. The Association of Commonwealth Universities, LondonEurotronics—European Working Party for Forecasting Electronics MarketsMicro Electronics in Western Europe—The Medium Term Perspective 1983–1987, K. P. Friebe and A. Gerybadze (Eds)New Product Development in Engineering: A Comparison of the British and West German Machine Tool Industries. Stephen T. ParkinsonStakeholders of the Organizational Mind. I. I. Mitroff.How companies manage R&D. Niall Lothian. Published by Institute of Cost and Management Accountants, March 1984The financial side of industrial research management. Lynn W. Ellis. John Wiley&Sons Inc.The costs of evaluation, edited by Marvin C. Atkin and Lewis C. Solmon.Personal‐Management in der industriellen Forschung and Entwicklung, edited by Michel Domsch and Eduard Jochum. Carl Heymanns Verlag, CologneManaging Interdisciplinary Research. Edited by Epton, Payne and Pearson. John WileyOptimisation Models for Strategic Planning, edited by T. H. Naylor and C. ThomasThe Next Industrial Revolution—Reviving Industry Through Innovation. Robert U. Ayres.Management Compensation in High Technology Companies. Jay Schuster.A History of Engineering in Classical and Medieval Times. Do

ISSN:0033-6807    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9310.1985.tb00042.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1985

数据来源: WILEY