R&D management and organizational coupling

Recent studies of excellent R&D management have highlighted the management of loose and tight elements — of change and continuity. Building on these studies, this paper reports on a comprehensive review of the literature and an in-depth study of an R&D laboratory including a series of twenty-nine detailed interviews with research performers and research managers. It presents a strategic approach to enhancing R&D management. This approach focuses on five coupling patterns: linkages of elements within the stages of the R&D cycle; linkages of specific stages of the R&D cycle; linkages across organizational levels; linkages with organizations in a laboratory's environment; and linkages between R&D performers and mentors. These linkages constitute connections across which information moves. Managing this information transfer and achieving the appropriate balance of loose and tight coupling is one of the most significant activities in R&D management. What works is careful and creative attention to existing and needed levels of intensity, rigidity, and freedom throughout the stages of the R&D process.