Management of R & D

Open Elective
 Course Objective

To provide learner an understanding of

management of human resource, ideas and
organizational culture for improved
effectiveness of R&D organization
 Course Content
Unit I: Introduction, Elements of RDO, Job Design &
Organizational Effectiveness
Unit II: Motivation, Dealing with diversity,
Managing Conflicts
Unit III: Performance appraisal, Technology
Transfer, Implementation of Innovation
Unit IV: Universities & research, Govt support for
research, Strategic management, SWOC
 Research Categories
Basic Research
a more complete knowledge or understanding of the
subject under study, without specific applications in
mind
May not have immediate commercial interest but may
be in fields of present or potential commercial interest
Applied Research
gaining knowledge or understanding to determine the
means by which a specific, recognized need may be met
to discovering new scientific knowledge that has
specific commercial objectives with respect to products,
processes, or services
 Research Categories
Development
systematic use of the knowledge or understanding
gained from research, directed toward the
production of useful materials, devices, systems or
methods, including design and development of
prototypes and processes.
 Categories of Basic Research
Pure Basic Research
carried out for the advancement of knowledge,
without working for long-term economic or social
benefits and with no positive efforts being made
to apply the results
Oriented Basic Research
carried out with the expectation that it will
produce a broad base of knowledge likely to form
the background to the solution of recognized or
expected current or future problems or
possibilities
 Research Categories
Nature: Basic/Applied/Development
Discipline:
Focus area: Health/Defense/Space..
Academic/Govt. /Industrial
Scale
Extent of interdiscplinary/multidiscplinary
nature
Any other
 Industrial Research Categories
Background research
Exploratory research
Development of new commercial activities
Development of existing commercial activities
Technical Services
 Economic Index Model
Research needs designed to improve the
operation or manufacturing efficiency
Through cost reduction
Inputs from market, users, scientists
 Portfolio Model
Normative, forecasted and comparative research
needs are considered
Normative needs (user-defined)
Comparative needs (from comparable organizations,
competitive product lines)
Forecasted needs (trend analysis)
 Research Portfolio Analysis
Portfolio to contain both basic and applied
research
Mix depends on the following
Technology of organization
Size of organization
Capabilities of research staff
Research facilities
Access to funding sources
 Element needed for an R&D organization

People
Ideas
Funds
Cultural elements
 People
Creative type
Idea generators, abstract problem solving, prefer to work
alone
Entrepreneurial type
Take and manage risk giving high priority to profitability
Analytical type
Prefer to have order and organization; avoid risk
Development type
Engage in team projects; maintain high energy levels
 People
Successful people in R& D
Curious, self-dependent, analytical, tolerant of
ambiguity, like knowledge-ladder system
High internal standards & self-confidence desirable
Tolerate bad management (technical managers may
be poor in HR)
Internal locus of control
Creativity
 People
Specialization
Most successful ones are not overspecialized
People with managerial skills desirable
Diverse workforce desirable
Staffing
Support staff
Technicians
Research staff
Requirements of research staff
Generate ideas, marketing & soft skills, coaching, project leading or
supervising
 Ideas
Ideas
One must think beyond obvious to generate ideas
Must allow presentation of new ideas without passing
judgement immediately
Key communicator: reads hard papers, communicating with
outsiders etc.
Gate keeper: links the organization to external information
sources
Research staff status based on technical competence
Ideas emerge due to communication with others
Defects in Human Information Processing

Biased reasoning
Self-deception
Cognitive illusions
Observe patterns in random data (Mahabharatha):
False Consensus effect
 Communication
Communication pattern depends on nature of research
activity
Research projects
High performing projects show extensive and decentralized
communication patterns
Development projects
High performing projects focus on communication patterns
toward operationally oriented areas
Communication outside the firm moderate and mediated
Technical service projects
Supervisor dominated communication patterns within and
outside the firm
 Communication
Development & technical services
Evolution of language, concepts, values unique to the
types of projects undertaken
At times, unique to organization
Gate keepers needed to communicate with outside
Technology gate keepers easily recognized; they are
high-profile performers and can interact seemlesly
with others
 Communication
R & D managers should facilitate
amount and pattern of communication within the
project must match the information processing
requirements
project must be linked to interdependent areas within
the firm
project must be linked to external sources of information
through direct contacts or through the gatekeepers
attention to workplace architecture & ways of
socialization required for internal communication (tea
breaks/coffee breaks sometimes useful!!!)
 The Innovation Process
Innovation
integration of existing technology and inventions to
create a new or improved product, process, or system
Innovation process includes
identifying the market need or technology
opportunity
adopting or adapting existing technology that satisfies
this need or opportunity
transferring this technology by commercialization or
other institutional means
 Funds
Essential for R & D
Salaries, consumables, travel, equipment, overheads,
office etc.
Federal funding
Provides flexibility and autonomy to explore
Private sector funding
Regimental
Specific outputs to be delivered with few resources
Seeking funds a way to test research output
 Culture
Culture a human made part of environment
objective elements (lab., equipment, building..)
subjective elements (rules, laws, norms)
Conceptualize organizations as information processing
system
Structure of organization must match the type of information
processed
Culture that emphasizes innovation & has good supervisor-
subordinate relations likely to be more effective
Hard work, people emphasis, status emphasis, participative
climate, tolerance for disagreement, frequent rewards are
worth noting
 Culture
Group think : tendency to avoid those disagreeing
Too bad; leads to poor performance
Job satisfaction
Not-Invented-Here Syndrome
Tendency of a stable research group to believe it possesses a
monopoly of knowledge in its field, thereby rejecting new ideas
from the outside
Communication within/outside organization, user community,
marketing personnel is key for successful & effective innovation
Tendency to reduce communication, getting isolated, ignoring inputs
Ways to circumvent and eliminate NIH

Add new employees to research groups

Active participation of outsiders in research groups
Encouragement to participate in conference, seminars
Facilitate interaction between development groups
Facilitate interaction between technical groups
Sabbatical programme
 Fit of person & job
Person whose abilities match the demands of the job is
valuable
Close match between individuals needs and the jobs ability
to satisfy leads to job satisfaction
Bonus & benefits proportional to achievements; base wages
remain same
More suitable for risk takers
Match between personal attributes and organizational
culture important
skills and qualifications, geographical or spatial location,
temporality and time preference, inadequate earnings, conflicts
between work and family lives
 Ways to foster healthy R&D workplace
Feedback
Helps scientists and engineers to see value of their work
Change tasks
Alter the nature & increase complexity of job
Helps people to take more responsibilities giving sense of self-
worth
Open environment
Active information exchange provides continuous learning
 Case study by Pelz & Andrews
Study design
1300 scientists and engineers
11 R & D labs
5 industrial labs
5 govt labs
7 labs in academia
Major conclusion
Researchers more effective in a creative tension environment
Balance between sources of stability or security and sources of
challenge/perturbation
 Other findings of Pelz & Andrews
Effective people
engage in both basic and applied research
Intellectually independent and self-reliant
Work in one main project in first decade; did nt overspecialize, developed skills useful
for later years
interested both in probing deeply and in pioneering in new areas
Influenced key decision makers of organization with individual goals oriented towards
organizational goals
Best environment
Not too tight; provide enough challenge & security; no rigid goals
High performers
Received support from colleagues; had complimentary talents with them
Time (Age)
Older groups over specialize
Group age (neither over-specialise nor too broad)
Effective older teams prefer collaborators
 Develop a climate of participation
Lawler (1991)
My prediction is that for participative management to be effective
it must put power, rewards, knowledge, and an upward and
downward information flow in place at the lower levels of an
organization. Limited moves in this direction will, according to this
view, produce limited or no results
 Characteristics of participative management
People should be treated fairly and with respect
People want to participate (especially researchers)
When people participate, they accept change & are more committed to
the organization.
People are a valuable resource since they possess ideas & knowledge
Better solutions emerge with peoples input
Organizations should make a long-term commitment peoples
development
People can be trusted to make important decisions about their work
activities
People can develop the knowledge to make important decisions about
the management of their work activities
When people make decisions about the management of their work, the
results are high satisfaction and organizational effectiveness
Organizational Effectiveness
Szakonyi (1994) proposal to measure organizational effectiveness
 Characteristics of Inventors and Innovators
Strong technical background
Able to deal with things rather than people
Fluency in discussing ideas rather than handling processes in a
formal organization
More at home with technical products than with marketing
problems
Inclined to be disdainful of the professional judgments of
others
Committed to innovative concepts and product notions
 Characteristics of Inventors and Innovators
Successful innovators are seen to have a much better
understanding of user needs
Successful innovators pay much more attention to marketing
Successful innovators perform development work more
efficiently than those who failed, but not necessarily more quickly
Successful innovators make more effective use of outside
technology and outside advice (even though they perform much
of the work in-house)
The responsible individuals in their successful attempts are
usually more senior and have greater authority than their
counterparts who fail. This could be because of the successful
individuals previous record
 Team: Definition

a small number of people with complementary skills

who are committed to a common purpose, set of
performance goals, and approach for which they
hold themselves mutually accountable
Virtual teams
group members interact without being located in
the same place using mediums such as conference
calls, electronic mail, and video conferences
 Formation of teams
Effective teams characterized by (Pelz and Andrews)
support of members for one anothers work
great respect for other members
Requires similarity in ability level
Requires similarity in basic attitudes & values
Skills & specific attitudes may vary
Inclusion of multicultural people can contribute to
creativity
Broadens the range of accessible ideas and concepts
Recognizes that the same form has several functions
Increases the readiness to seek out ideas from diverse sources
 Formation of teams
Effectiveness of a team depends on
Quality of people in the team
Coordination of activities of the team
Influence of the above variables depends on task in hand
Divisible (can be done by many people) Vs Unitary tasks
(cannot be divided)
Maximizing (tasks having a criterion without limits) Vs
Optimizing tasks (have a criterion with an optimum
level)
Disjunctive Vs Conjunctive tasks
 Team work in R & D setup
Advantages
Complex tasks require technical skills in multiple areas
Disadvantages
Poor communication skills
Seek personal milestone
Conflict, disagreement
No tie between individual and organization growth
Self-managing teams difficult to setup in R&D
Patterns contributing to innovation
 Ethos of a scientific community
Universalism

Communalism
Findings to be shared equally among all members of the society

Disinterestedness
Integrity of men doing science
Disinterest towards commercial or financial benefits

Organized Skepticism
Temporary suspension of judgement and the detached scrutiny of scientific
discoveries
 Aspects of organizational culture for successful Innovation

When the ideal ethos (universalism, sharing of scientific knowledge, disinterestedness

in terms of commercial or financial benefits) becomes part of the culture of the
organization, science and innovation can flourish

Tolerating an innovator who may not always work well within the existing
administrative procedures.

Providing meaning to every persons contribution in terms of organization goalspersonal

goal congruence
Recognizing the importance of interaction with the wider scientific community & users
Encouraging the various gatekeeper roles
Recognizing and rewarding excellenceboth technical and managerial
Developing a culture with a can-do attitude directed toward the
needs of the customer.
 Job Design & Organizational Effectiveness
Compatibility of individuals goal with that of organizations important;
its the major consideration in job design; can be achieved by

Selecting people whose personal goals are already compatible with those
of the organization
Using participative management
Negotiation of goals is healthy

Job satisfaction is key; can be achieved if

individuals ability matches with jobs requirement
needs of the individual met by the jobs ability

Members to define their job description

 Job Attributes
Jobs that provide sufficient variety, autonomy, task identity, and
feedback are more satisfying than jobs that do not have these
attributes

Variety
Ability to do different jobs at the particular job site
Autonomy
Ability to decide for oneself what should be done
Task Identity
Having a job that can be identified as a distinct unit
Feedback
Knowledge of how well one is doing the job
 Career Paths (Four stages of a well-performing engineer)

Working with a mentor

Assumes responsibility for a small part of the project

Get involved in external relationships with suppliers, with clients,

and with new business ventures, and begin to do things that
benefit others and organization in general

Exercises a significant influence over the future direction of a

major portion of the organization

Studies at MIT
faculty more productive amidst mix of work activities
mixing research with administrative work helps increase
creativity and idea generation
 Dual & Triple Hierarchies
Dual Hierarchy
Along management ladder
Along technical ladder
Both are equally powerful; however, model was unsuccessful
Problems with dual hierarchy
Domination of organization by management hierarchy
Miscommunication (between technicals & managers)
Inadequate evaluation procedures
 Dual & Triple Hierarchies
Triple Hierarchy
Managerial hierarchy
Professional hierarchy
Third hierarchy (both administrative jobs as well as
professional jobs) Professional liaison
Advantages
Managers have less power; taken away by professional liaison
Technical people interact with professional liaison than with
managers
Tangible benefits
Retention of faculty
Minimization of complacency
 Centralization & Decentralization
Centralization
People report to one manager
Effective when information flow does not speed; short-
term project
Decentralization
< 50 % people report to one manager
All information needed is available to every one
Effective when information flow needs speed; long-time
project
Useful when large info flows in and out
Good companies use hybrid approach (both C & DC)
 Job Design & Conflict
At times, conflicts occur due to job design
Degree of autonomy crucial
Types of autonomy
Strategic autonomy
Operational autonomy
Right type of autonomy depends on level of
incumbent in the job
Conflict between professional values & org goals
Profession values: concern for scientific development
Researchers tend to be indentified with research
area; research managers with organization
Sources of conflict between professional and
organizational goals
Conflict between profitable and technological
innovation
Individual wishes to be autonomous; management
wishes integration
Researchers seek freedom from procedures;
managers enforce procedures
Researchers seek authority on professional status;
managers rely on bureaucratic procedure & power
Sources of conflict between professional and
organizational goals
Conflict occurs when different parts of the
organization have different mandates
Conflict between marketing and R&D groups
Mechanisms for coordination of marketing and R&D
groups
Stage-dominated approach
Process-dominant approach
Task-dominated approach
 Fads in Science
False discovery of N rays
R.E. Millikans work on charge of an electron
Magneto optical effect
polywater
Mitogenic radiation from roots of onion
Ideas emerge due to communication with others
 Communication Alternatives
Take Advantage of the Others Cognitive Habits.
Use Information Optimally
Use Repetition
Use Prior Imagination
Use Positive Experience
Get People to Commit Themselves
Choose the Right Source of Influence
Get help from others
Stress Rare Events
Up and Down Communication
Sideways Communication (journal, face-face meetings)
Motivation in R&D organization
 Motivation in R&D organization
Goals determine human behavior
Motivation to achieve goals influential in
researchers performance
Determines organization effectiveness as well
Individuals goals to match that of organizations
R &D manager to facilitate overlapping or
similarity of goals
 Model of Human Behavior
Act a short sequence of behaviors that
eventually result in some outcome
Actions have results that can be evaluated
Probability of an act depends on
Habits
Behavior intentions
Facilitating conditions
Availability of equipment
Self-efficacy
Can also modify the probability of habits & intentions
 Model of Human Behavior
o Mathematical model

Pa - probability of an act, WH and WI are weights

that are between 0 and 1.00 and sum to 1.00, H
is a measure of habit, I is a measure of intention,
and F is a measure of the facilitating conditions
 Determinants of intentions
Influential factors
Social factors
Norms
Roles
Self-concept of a person
Interpersonal agreements
Act satisfaction
Perceived consequences
Model for Determinants of intentions
 Structuring organization for optimal
communication

Increase interdependence among projects within a lab

Increase share of common facilites
Encouragement to participation in national meetings &
meetings of professional societies
Architecture to facilitate flow of information
Non-territorial office
 Rewards As Tool for Motivation

Variable schedule of rewards more motivating

Reward after a tangible achievement more motivating
than reward after incremental achievement
Rewards must contain everything
Pay, benefits, learning, development, work environment
Finding the right mix is the key
Principles of compensation
Equity
Competitiveness
Link to performance
 Rewards Patterns
High tech firms emphasize on profit-sharing
Relatively new firms follow profit-sharing
Low salaries
Profit-sharing a good model for commercial R&D
organizations
Non-profit R&D reward through pay based on
External competition
Internal equity
Individuals credential and accomplishments
Team reward compensation system
 Dealing with diversity in R&D organization
Assimilation and Multiculturalism
 Cultural Differences
Individualists - West
Collectivists East Asia
Differences between individualists & collectivists culture
Collectivists define themselves as members of a collective
Collectivist social behavior is predicted better from norms than
from attitudes; reverse true for individualists
Collectivists have personal goals that are compatible with the
goals of their collective; in case of discrepancy, collective goals
take precedence
Collectivists pay much attention to the needs of others;
individualists more calculative
 Cultural Distance
Cultural distance: Extent of differences in elements of a
culture
Greater the cultural difference, members deal with
intergroup rather than interpersonal
Greater the cultural difference, more difficult it is to
form effective teams
Extreme heterogeneity in teams not good
 Cultural, Emotional & Social Intelligence(s)
Individuals capability to function effectively in situations
characterized by cultural diversity.
Emotional intelligence
Social intelligence
Golemans model for emotional intelligence
constructs
Model for
diversity in
groups
 Intercultural Training

Definition: a professional field that specializes in providing

training to improve interactions across cultures, and can
also be used to deal with all aspects of diversity
 Leadership in R &D organizations

Activities of leader
Consideration (M) - maintaining the activities of group by
paying attention to the needs of members
Structure (P) definition of task, how and what is to be
done
Misumi model for identification of leaders
 Leadership in R &D organizations

M
Person oriented
P
Task oriented
Stress levels decide on relative values of M & P under a
particular circumstance
 Theories of Leadership

Path-goal theory of leadership

leader is supposed to supply what is necessary for the
followers to reach their goals
Acts of a leader to be determined by the needs of his
followers
Types of leadership styles
 R & D Leadership
R & D leadership
A process of mutual influence between supervisor and employees
Styles of leadership based on mutual influence
Collaboration
Both supervisor & employee have influence in making decisions
Delegation
Employees given considerable responsibility; little supervisor
influence
Domination
High supervisor influence; low input from employees
Abdication
Neither supervisor nor employee has influence
 Leadership in Creative Research Environment
A manager must
meet the day to day responsibilities placed
focus on the long-term requirements of the
organization
consider strategic and policy implications for
research group
Integrate the efforts of others
provide foresight
make technical contribution in his/her area
 Managing conflicts in R&D organizations
Types of conflicts
Intrapersonal conflict
Interpersonal conflict
Intergroup conflict
 Conflicts within individuals
Role conflict
Role: Ideas about correct behavior of a person
holding a position in a social system
Prescribed (prescribed by other people) , Subjective
(role thought appropriate by self) & Enacted roles
(actual role or behavior)
Problems arise when
Mismatch between subjective role & prescribed role
Mismatch between enacted role & prescribed role
Various prescribed roles are different
Work load
Creativity
 Conflicts within individuals
Technicians versus researchers
Thick-skinned technicians & support staff must be
selected to overcome conflicts
Supervisor-subordinate expectations
Negotiations can help
Role overload and underload
Boundary role (that connects organization with
the external environment)
 Conflicts within individuals

Greater the role conflict

Greater the dissatisfaction of individual
More frequent the physical symptons of the
individual
More frequent is the hospital visits
Greatest role conflict in task-dominated structures
Way to mitigate role conflict
Participative management
 Conflicts between individuals
Areas of conflict
Reward structure
Control of goals
authority
Insufficient assistance
Conflicts more likely between individuals having
different attitudes and values
Setting superordinate goals a way to minimize
conflict between individuals
Conflicts between groups
 Intercultural conflict
Intercultural training key to overcome intercultural
conflict
Four approaches to intercultural training
The Cognitive approach
The affective approach
The Behavioral approach
Self-Insight
 Ethics
Reciprocity
Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to
you
Benefitting the least powerful
When a conflict develops between two people with
unequal power, the more powerful has the duty to act
generously
 Performance Appraisal
Appraisal
Evaluation and making judgments as to the quality and
quantity of an individuals productivity
Difficulties with employee appraisal
Negative events given more weight than positive events
Appraisal-job difficulty correlation contaminated by several
factors
Observers attribute actors behavior to internal factors;
actors attribute theirs to external factors
Observers tend to use their own behavior as a measure
Biases
 Performance Appraisal
Goals of engineers Vs scientists
Engineers are locals
More interested in technologies that benefit organization
Measure their success against organizations internal standards
Scientists are cosmopolitans
More interested in new concepts and basic research
Interact more freely with scientific community
Pattern their behavior and measure success against standards of
scientific community
Appraisal methods need to take the above into account
 Purposes of Performance Appraisal
Evaluation
Systematic means of evaluating an employees performance to
backup salary increases, promotions, transfers etc
Feedback
A means of telling employee on how he or she is doing
Employee can also be asked to provide suggestions
Counseling
Identify training & other developmental needs
Increasing the motivation of employees
Instituting organizational control and goal congruence
Enhancing organization effectiveness and excellence
 Performance Appraisal
Linking monetary rewards with performance
dangerous
Lawlers model for performance
 Strategy for Performance Appraisal
Categories of elements for employee contributions
Process measures (Routine activities, short-run outputs)
Result measures (Ends oriented activities, tangible & significant
outputs)
Strategic indicators (indicators focusing on recognition, awards
and reputation internal and external to the organization)
Suggestions that may assist in PA
PA should be looked beyond judging or evaluating an
employee
While rank-ordering employees, every performance element
needs to be taken into account and quantified/given weights
 Steps/stages of technology transfer
Knowledge
occurs when a potential user learns about the new technology and gains some
understanding of its capabilities and usefulness
Persuasion
occurs when the user forms a favorable or an unfavorable attitude toward the
innovation
Decision
occurs when the user engages in activities that lead to adoption or rejection of
the innovation
Implementation
occurs when the user incorporates the innovation into the way of doing things
Confirmation
occurs when the user seeks to confirm the implementation decision and
continues to use the innovation
 Factors affecting technology transfer
National policies, laws & regulations
Corporate policies
Market demand
Scientific base of the nation and industry
Level of R & D effort
Education level
Availability of capital
 Characteristics of Innovation (Rogers)
Relative advantage
Degree to which the innovation is superior to other ideas
Compatibility
Degree to which the innovation is consistent with existing values,
past experiences and needs of the user
Complexity
Degree to which the innovation is relatively difficult to
understand and use
Trialability
Degree to which an innovation may be tried on a limited basis
Observability
Degree to which the results from the use of innovation are visible
and easily communicated to users and other decision makers
Technology Transfer Strategy
Types of Innovation based on Uncertainty (Freeman & Freeman)
Models for implementation of technological innovations
Models for implementation of technological innovations
Models for implementation of technological innovations
Anthony et al. (2008) Pathway for Implementation of Radical & Incremental
Innovations
Hypotheses related to Technology Transfer
Whites framework for integrating Technical
and Business Issues
 Strategic Management
Definition
A conscious thought process in which individuals
and organizations set goals and means to reach
them that guide action
 Strategic choices that serve as
guidelines for innovation
Degree of innovation
Types of innovation that are to be emphasized
The overall approach to the market
Resource commitment
 Role of marketers
Incremental innovation, involving low uncertainty
in both technical and marketing
Creation of new market via existing technology
 Attitude Change Process
What is this?
Steps to create positive attitude in employees
towards work and organization
Phases of attitude change process
Attention
Comprehension
Yielding
Remembering
Action
Organizational Change in R&D Settings
 Reasons that necessitate change in
organizational structure
Change in the Stage of the Development of
the Organization.
Program Fluctuation
New Program Emphasis
Customer Interface
Personnel Changes
Performance Problems
The Relationship of a Work Group to the
Organization
Steps in Organizational Change
 Why do people resist change?
Due to uncertainty imposed by the new
changes
 SWOT/SWOC
Strength, Weakness, Opportunities,
Threat/Challenges
Guide to identify +, - within organization (S,W)
& +, - outside the organization (O,T/C)
Helps in strategic planning & decision making
Can be used to explore possibilities for new
initiatives
Helps to adjust plans mid-way
An excellent way of organizing information
 How to do SWOC?
Internal External

Feature Positive/S Negative/ Feature Positive/O Negative/C

W Future
HR trends
Phys. Res Economy
Finance Funding
Activities sources
Past Demograp
Experience hy
Env.
Legislation
Events
 SWOT Matrix

SWOT Strengths Weaknesses

Analysis
Opportunities S-O W-O
Strategies Strategies

Threats S-T W-T

Strategies Strategies
 SWOT / TOWS Matrix
S-O strategies pursue opportunities that fit
well the company's strengths.
W-O strategies overcome weaknesses to
pursue opportunities.
S-T strategies identify ways that the firm can
use its strengths to reduce its vulnerability to
external threats.
W-T strategies make a defensive plan to
prevent the firm's weaknesses from making it
susceptible to external threats.
SWOT Interactions