Technological Innovation in Public R&D Laboratories in India: Dissecting the Critical Dimensions
The management of research and development (R&D) encompasses the innovations that result from it. Managing innovation, however, is intricately linked to the twin aspects of technology transfer and commercialization of research results, steps that dema
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1 Introduction The management of research and development (R&D) encompasses the innovations that result from it, helping us to identify key contributions to successful outcomes, including good communication, effective project management, understanding user needs and integration of basic research results (Brockhoff et al. 1997). Over time, scientific and technical knowledge production has become a less self-contained activity, with an increasing emphasis on prospects of value creation for, knowledge transfer to, and relevance and impact on the wider society (Connor 1984). The scientist is no longer an independent free individual concerned solely with what he/she can find. Scientists have to attend to what he/she ought to do with the research and the uses of research outputs. The optimization of the relationship between R&D and innovation allows organizations to reach competitive advantages through the process of rationalization of R&D activities internally and externally through the increasing rate of successful innovations (Chiaromonte 1997). In the context of an emerging economy such as India, a critical concern is the low appropriability of R&D-expenditure in basic research. In addition and in common with many developed economy counterparts, their micro, small and medium firms that operate in niche markets cannot afford to maintain large R&D laboratories. Even risk averse and short-term-oriented large firms do not often make the large R&D investments necessary because of indivisibility and high uncertainty. This raises S. Roy (B) Professor, Operations, Supply Chain, Logistics, Project, and Technology Management, Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Hapur Road, Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad 201001, India e-mail: [email protected] J. Mitra Professor Business Enterprise and Innovation, Essex Business School, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, CO4 3SQ Essex, UK e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 J. Mitra (ed.), Indian Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship and Development in South Asia: Longitudinal Narratives, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4859-8_11
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the question about the role played by public-funded R&D, the findings of which are expected to be subsequently exploited by private businesses for industrial innovations. This being the main justification for allocating public funds for research, assessing the innovative impact of such activities becomes critical. Beise and Stahl (1999), following a study on public research and innovation in Germany, point out that inefficiencies in the transfer of technology and lack of orientation towards the commercialization of scientific research results are predominantly responsible for ineffective public research and not the quality of research in terms of scientific performance. Pearson (1990) identifies a few key issues impacting innovation such as the importance of communication, the value of experience, the matching of technological and market needs, and the value of understanding user needs. He draws up a
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