R&D to operations transition management

This paper outlines some strategic considerations in the transition of an o rganization from essentially a research and development or design environme nt to an operational or production environment. We propose a transition lif e cycle model that is in agreement with the existing life cycle models. The building blocks of the research are the results of an extensive literature search and a series of industrial interviews. The desired expectation of t his effort was to find methods for moving NASA's space shuttle program into an era of routine, timely operations Proposes utilizing some existing conc epts of change for achieving a smooth transformation tinder various levels of technical political, cultural managerial and economic uncertainties. Rec ommends an initial planning stage followed by various possible courses of a ctions and considerations for the transition. We hope that the framework pr esented in this paper will serve the individuals and organizations consider ing a major transition, especially those from a research and development to an operational one.