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Zurich, Switzerland, April 25, 2008—A recent study
conducted by the University of St. Gallen (HSG) in Switzerland
revealed that in central Europe the German Fraunhofer Institutes,
the Max Planck Society and the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory
are perceived as the three premiere institutions in research
and development (R&D), ahead of the R&D departments of
Siemens and Philips. For this study, 112 European R&D managers
were surveyed and asked to rank 33 public and industrial organizations.
When asked for the key criteria that determined their ranking,
the majority of the participants listed scientific breakthroughs
and leadership in a specific research area. Other criteria that
are also considered to be of importance are commercial impact of
the results, smart solutions to scientific problems, and the transferability
of the scientific results. These aspects influenced the ranking
made by managers in industrial organizations more strongly than
that by managers in public institutions. Another key criterion
mentioned by both groups was the reputation of individual scientists,
whereas having a broad research portfolio was clearly of least
importance for the rating of an institution’s reputation.
Earlier studies such as the ones of HSG Professor Beat Schmid
showed already that reputation is of increasing importance in the
context of the stakeholder management of an enterprise. The current
study revealed that for R&D organizations, this is especially
true in respect of their ability to attract top talents as future
employees and for negotiating strategic research partnerships.
However, reputation alone does not suffice to recruit young top
researchers—unless it is accompanied by attractive working
conditions. These include, among others, the freedom to publish,
a culture of open discussion, and the possibility of setting up
a flexible work schedule. This aspect would be an ideal subject
for a follow-on study so as to gain further insight into these
criteria.
Reputation also plays a key role in the selection of research
partners. Here an outstanding reputation is a prerequisite for
making the shortlist. Interestingly enough, personal relations
to experts working for the other organization are a further selection
criterion of considerable importance. If no such relations exist,
says the study, the openness of the potential partner in handling
intellectual property becomes a decisive factor.
The study was supported by the Swiss Innovation Promotion Agency
(CTI), and developed and conducted by the HSG Institute of Technology
Management. It is the result of the first phase of a CTI project
on research brand equity. Its goal is to develop a methodology
to measure research brands as well as a toolbox to influence and
manage such brands, with the aim of enhancing the innovation performance.
In the next phase of the project, such a toolbox will be developed,
tested, and optimized at the IBM Zurich Research Lab. Finally,
in the third phase, the toolbox will be disseminated in the Swiss
market with the support of the BWG Management Advisory Group.
The
HSG release can be accessed here.
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