Premium
Changing control strategies in industrial R&D
Author(s) -
Whittington R.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
randd management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.253
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1467-9310
pISSN - 0033-6807
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9310.1991.tb00728.x
Subject(s) - control (management) , productivity , business , industrial organization , economics , management , economic growth
This article reports a comparative study of six in‐house and eight independent industrial R&D organisations. These organisations are analysed in terms of three types of control strategy ‐ market control, hierarchical control and professional control. The paper suggests that the professional control strategy, emergent after World War Two, is now being increasingly challenged by market control strategies. R&D organisations under or adopting market control are shown to enjoy marked productivity advantages. The distinctive managerial practices of market controlled R&D are analysed. It is concluded that many in‐house laboratories have much to gain by partial adoption of these market control practices.