Managing Technology in the Top-R&D-Spending Companies Worldwide - Results of a Global Survey

A common rule of thumb found in innovation literature is that innovative firms are twice as profitable as firms who stick to old products and processes. With competition driven by innovation, the strategic dimension of technology and therefore the crucial meaning of industrial R&D for competitiveness are a commonplace in the scientific and industrial community. It is for this reason that literature on strategic importance of technology is constantly growing in economic-, policy-, and management-oriented literature. However, there is a constant dearth of empirical knowledge about how companies actually set up and implement their technology strategies. A survey of R&D officers whose expenditures totaled $100 million or more found results that focus on two issues: 1. The nature of current corporate technology and their importance for corporate management is analyzed. 2. The way in which companies provide the basis of these technology strategies is examined.