R and D-cooperation by small and medium-sized companies

There is reason to suppose that small and medium- sized manufacturing companies are dependent to a growing degree on RandD cooperation, this being governed by the size and direction of a company's technological orientation. The most important reason for establishing relationships with third parties for RandD cooperation is the entry of a company into a completely new area of technology. There are several important prerequisits of successful RandD cooperations by small and medium sized companies: First of all, a lot of companies need accessible information from public and government agencies on possibilities for cooperation and potential partners for collaboration. Beyond this, the collaborating partners need "compatible interfaces", i.e. responsible liaison individuals on both sides of the RandD relationsship who possess similar qualifications, or at the very least a related understanding of the problem. Moreover transparent organization of cooperative RandD projects is needed; the goa ls, results, time frames and costs must be defined as precisely as possible right from the outset in order to avoid misunderstandings and failures on both sides. Finally cooperation requires a certain amount of trust on the part of the collaborating parties; at least for the duration of the cooperation, there is a need for mutual certainty that their respective orientations will tend to coincide.