COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH-AND-DEVELOPMENT AND EUROPEAN INDUSTRY

A recent questionnaire on collaborative R&D reveals current thinking a nd actual experiences of a large fraction of the European R&D-intensiv e industry. There is general agreement on the main driving forces for collaborative R&D; namely, rapid technological change, globally access ing technology and more demanding customers. However, the perspective from various organizational layers on specific issues may differ consi derably A large majority of the corporate representatives expect an in crease in volume. This is not the case among the business unit people. As the primary reason for collaboration the corporate layer cited new product development, while environmental problems led the responses f rom business units. The strategic integration of collaborative R&D app ears to be less than that of other R&D. Simple measures like formulati ng a policy and strategy for collaborative R&D, together with attentio n to good project management practices, enhance the chances for a succ essful collaboration considerably.