Community Forum
Community Forum accepts member submitted questions and requests that members take a brief moment and reply with their viewpoint. All of the responses will be compiled and sent out in an email to all members within three business days. All questions and responses will be archived on this page for future reference for IRI members only. Community Forum is a members-only benefit of IRI Membership. Please login to view Community Forum discussions topics.
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Recent Discussions
Our organization recently went through a career ladder revamp and the last piece in this project is to make sure we have the appropriate titles for the laboratory technical support staff. Please take a minute to let us know about the titles your organization uses for this group.
We need some help identifying best and typical peer practices with respect to information (library) services. Please take two minutes and participate in the following survey to let us know how your information service function is structured, funded and which information providers do you use.
Due to the inherent uncertainties involved in creating new products, it is difficult to predict how long a given project will take. R&D organizations may become complacent when launch targets are missed and projected gate dates are frequently reset. R&D personnel may adopt strategies to deal with delays (like switching their focus to other projects) rather than addressing the sources of delay. How does your organization consider the issues of R&D speed?
As part of on-going efforts to build a digital transformation (DXN) community, IRI is engaging its members to explore different aspects of DXN. We would like to engage IRI members in a brief survey on the evolution and adoption of advanced analytics (AA) as part of this initiative. AA refers to computational methods and tools to transform “big” data into actionable insight to enable better decision-making and mitigate future risks. This survey is specifically interested in the use of AA, including A.I., in research and development (R&D) functions and applications. Examples may include - advanced applied statistics and data discovery; physics-based modelling; computational chemistry/formulation; cognitive, predictive, or autonomous operations, et.
Technical Leader readiness is a gap found in many companies. We are looking to improve our existing development program which focuses on building the leadership skills necessary for top technical talent to succeed at higher levels in our organization (e.g. manager level, often referred to as “Fellows”). We are interested in learning how other companies are developing research and engineering talent for senior roles, and if your company has a program for this purpose.
A valuable and highly limited resource in most companies are innovation project leaders, whose critical role is to coordinate one or more innovation projects. Across all innovation technologies, companies must balance resources to assure the best possible return on innovation. Balancing includes understanding the capability and capacity of an essential resource: the innovation project leader.
Can you recommend any suppliers of Project & Portfolio Management (PPM) systems, particularly those that are configurable enough to suit the range of different types of project in an R&D organisation? We would like a system that will allow multiple types of StageGate™ processes to be created and projects to be value selected and managed in the most effective way for all stakeholders.
New product development (NPD) involves many estimates and assumptions in determining what financial outcome a portfolio of projects will deliver. We would like to understand what companies consider when assessing confidence in delivering that expected size of prize and how certain factors are considered to determine a risk-adjusted size of prize.
Long term profitability and viability of a research and development facility requires effective stewardship of maintenance activities and spend. We’d like to know how companies allocate resources to routine maintenance of their research and development sites and equipment.
Our organization holds an annual R&D meeting for our team once a year which includes a presentation by an engaging speaker. We are looking for fresh ideas for this presentation and would like to know your speaker recommendations.
The laws, rules, and regulations of the markets we play in are constantly changing. How does your R&D team and greater organization handle this work load? Are certain functional groups responsible for specific compliance and product stewardship work streams?
Our organization conducts an Innovation and Creativity Workshop to foster an innovative culture and entrepreneurial spirit for the entire R&D leadership team every other year. We are looking for fresh ideas for this workshop and would like to know your recommendations of programs and/or vendors you have found successful. Have you used a consultant, university, author, etc. that you highly recommend for an Innovation and Creative Problem-Solving Workshop? If yes, please share your recommendation:
Companies make choices between investments in R&D, productivity, tech service and the plant, or choices between different types of R&D. To make these choices they balance the risk, return, and resources from each area and compare the rates of return they expect to get from each of these investments. For R&D, this analysis is complicated because not all projects succeed, not all R&D expenses are devoted towards new products, some projects cannibalize existing sales, and project life cycles vary. For every dollar of R&D spend, how many dollars does your company expect to return?
Explore Community Topics
Below are samples of Community Forum resources. To see all of our historical data, please utilize the IRI Learning Center
Alliances & Collaborations
- What is your experience with open innovation firms?
- How do you handle IP when collaborating with universities?
Finance & Resources
- Can you help with Life Cycle Analyses?
- Can you recommend a consultant who can assess our overall R&D investment?
Innovation
Intellectual Asset Management
- How do you list inventors' names on patent applications?
- Are you concerned that your patent portfolio reveals your research strategy?
- How do you determine how long to hold on to IP?
- How does your company reward people who are granted patents?
- Who manages your IP?
Knowledge Management
Metrics
New Product Development
- What is your cost per project for early stage discovery?
- What is your Design Thinking methodology?
- How are new product sales calculated?
- How do you prioritize NPD?
- Let's Talk About NPD
- What is Your Vitality Index?
Project & Portfolio Management
- What program management tools do you use?
- What is your R&D resource allocation?
- What metrics are used for your innovation process?
- How do you track R&D project execution performance?
Strategic Planning
- Can you help with Life Cycle Analyses?
- Do you recommend ISO Certification?
- How many projects should R&D people have at a time?
- Are you concerned that your patent portfolio reveals your research strategy?
Organization & Culture
- What is your overall R&D structure?
- Do shared service centers work?
- How to establish a managerial career ladder and a technical career ladder
- Does your organization offer flex time?
- How does your company reward people who are granted patents?
Talent Management & Human Resources
- Can you share some examples of innovation job descriptions?
- What is your approach to STEM?
- How Do You Align Your Technical Ladder?
- Overal R&D Structure
- What is the career development structure of your R&D organization?
- How is your tech ladder structured for promotion opportunities?
- What is the span of control for managers?
- How do you align your technical ladder?
- How are you improving your team's technical capability?
Tools & Techniques
- What document management tool do you use?
- What new tools do your researchers use to do their jobs faster?
- Can you help with Life Cycle Analyses?
- Can you recommend a consultant who can assess our overall R&D investment?
- Do you have contact lens restrictions?
- What program management tools do you use?
Monday November 23, 2020 11:15am
Most approaches to portfolio management require some way of inputting the effort hours spent on a project. Some companies require employees to report their time and attribute it to projects, others...
Monday November 23, 2020 10:00am
2021 Annual Conference Call for Presentations The Innovation Research Interchange is accepting proposals for the 2021 Virtual Annual Conference, Innovation for the Next Normal. The program will draw...
Thursday February 18, 2021 12:00pm
Dr. Jaap de Vries is a technologist in FM Global’s Innovation team, based in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. In this role, he discovers and develops new opportunities to guide the strategic planning...