Solving Problem Solving: A Potent Force for Effective Management
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#1998 Operational Research Society Ltd. All rights reserved. 0160-5682/98 $12.00 http://www.stockton-press.co.uk/jor
Book Selection Edited by JM Wilson K Brockhoff: Industrial Research for Competitiveness RL Flood: Solving Problem Solving: A Potent Force for Effective Management FA Stowell, RL Ison, R Armson, J Holloway, S Jackson and S McRobb (Eds): Systems for Sustainability: People, Organizations, and Environments J Bramel and D Simchi-Levi: The Logic of Logistics: Theory, Algorithms and Applications for Logistics Management
Industrial Research for Competitiveness K Brockhoff Kluwer Academic Press, London, 1997. xvi 149 pp. £32.50. ISBN 3 540 62842 8 One of the most fundamental questions faced by industrial and commercial organisations is that of whether to invest or not in research. If the answer to this question is af®rmative, then further questions as to how and how much to invest arise. This book explores these questions within the company environment. The ideas and arguments in the book are largely based upon interviews carried out in Japanese and European high-tech organisations. The discussion presented in the ®rst chapter identi®es various examples of organisations from different countries where the argument ranges from total support to a complete opposition to in-house or company led research. On the one hand, factors such as lean management structure, short business planning and product development horizons, lack of suf®cient appreciation of research results, frequent changes in company or national policy, etc. are thought to be contributing towards the lack of support for research. On the other hand, beliefs that own research is vital for survival and relying on others for carrying out research may not deliver most desired results at the right time seem to advocate a strong support for research. However, there are varied arguments in all these cases, which makes it dif®cult to conclude one way or the other. The author, at the end of the ®rst chapter, decides that no real conclusion can be drawn from such casual observations and proceeds to a more systematic and statistically valid exploration of the issue in the remainder of the book. Chapter 2 is devoted to establishing the main characteristics of research. Here, some distinction is made between the concepts of pure (namely, basic) and applied research and also between research and development. The issues of copyright (or con®dentially), transferability; risk and bene®ts of research are also discussed here.
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The third chapter has an in-depth analysis of reasons for carrying out the research. The author classi®es the reasons into two broad categories: Desire or need for innovationÐ developing new products and services; and Means of corporate servicesÐgathering intelligence, HR, technology and transfer, etc. In Chapter 4, it is argued that research helps to develop various potentials of the organisation so as to strengthen its competitiveness. The next three chapters are intertwined to a certain degree as they try to tackle the
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