BASIC RESEARCH INSIDE THE FIRM - LESSONS FROM AN IN-DEPTH CASE-STUDY

The economic analysis of basic research in firms has been a growing co ncern, but only a few attempts have been made to understand the realit ies which characterize the implementation of this activity. In an in-d epth case study, this paper considers the organisational specificities of basic research inside the firm and emphasizes the strategic role o f human resources. It shows that the process of innovation, which was seen in the 1970s as a stock of information to be managed, became, dur ing the 1980s, a sequential learning process which covers a variety of different but complementary organizational designs in the basic resea rch unit. On this basis, some analytical implications for technology a nd innovation processes are suggested. As the production process is a sequential learning process, an innovative firm strategy is defined as one which is able to balance short and long terms requirements with r egard to profitability. This appears as an out-of-equilibrium problem where the crucial determinant is the organizational design chosen by t he firm in order to generate and implement new learning and skills.