Paul Nightingale

The product-process-organisation relationship in complex development projects

This paper provides a framework linking products to innovation processes in order to show how knowledge, technology and organisation are all interrelated. These interactions create specific innovation management problems for companies developing complex, systemic capital goods. Firms can reduce development schedules and costs by efficiently allocating resources to reduce uncertainty about the implications of different design options. The paper proposes that technologies are constructed by following a set of interrelated problem solving tasks that constrain the range of possible innovation processes. The dynamic interactions between these interrelated tasks and the organisation of specialised labour influences the success of problem solving (as does problem-solving technology) and consequently the number and extent of redesign feedback loops in the innovation process. These redesign feedback loops have implications for the schedule, cost and quality of the project. The more general framework is illustrated by a case study of product development in the aeroengine sector.

Putting pharmacogenetics into practice

Genetics is slowly explaining variations in drug response, but applying this knowledge depends on implementation of a host of policies that provide long-term support to the field, from translational research and regulation to professional education.

Peer review and the relevance gap: Ten suggestions for policy-makers

Long-term changes in knowledge production can produce mismatches between the research that society requires and the research that society produces — what we term ‘relevance gaps’. This paper explores what can be done to close them. The paper argues that current structures for governing research are often inappropriate, damage the reputation and value system of the academy, and produce a widespread perception that much research is irrelevant. New ways are needed to address how disciplinary value judgements and the structure of peer review influence the direction of academic research. Alternatives to current peer-review practices and guidelines for funding agencies are proposed. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Big Pharma, Little Science? A Bibliometric Perspective on Big Pharma’s R&D Decline

There is a widespread perception that pharmaceutical R&D is facing a productivity crisis characterised by stagnation in the numbers of new drug approvals in the face of increasing R&D costs. This study explores pharmaceutical R&D dynamics by examining the publication activities of all R&D laboratories of the major European and US pharmaceutical firms (Big Pharma) during the period 1995–2009. The empirical findings present an industry in transformation. In the first place, we observe a decline of the total number of publications by large firms. Second, we show a relative increase of their external collaborations suggesting a tendency to outsource, and a diversification of the disciplinary base, in particular towards computation, health services and more clinical approaches. Also evident is a more pronounced decline in publications by both R&D laboratories located in Europe and by firms with European headquarters. Finally, while publications by Big Pharma in emerging economies sharply increase, they remain extremely low compared with those in developed countries. In summary, the trend in this transformation is one of a gradual decrease in internal research efforts and increasing reliance on external research. These empirical insights support the view that Big Pharma are increasingly becoming ‘network integrators’ rather than the prime locus of drug discovery.

From Funding Gaps to Thin Markets: UK Government Support for Early-Stage Venture Capital

Hybrid venture capital funds have a small positive impact on firm performance. This paper explores the implications of this finding for public policy in the United Kingdom.

Dealing with uncertainty in complex projects: revisiting Klein and Meckling

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the content and contributions of the article by Klein and Meckling entitled “Application of operations research to development decisions” which was published in the journal Operations Research in May‐June 1958. The paper explores the major concepts and contributions in the article and suggests that these are relevant to todays complex and uncertain development projects.Design/methodology/approach – The paper outlines the context in which the research on which the article is based took place and presents the main ideas in the article which relate to decision making in the procurement and development of complex systems.Findings – The paper demonstrates the utility of the concepts in the original article, shows how they have been used in academic research on project management and innovation and that they are still relevant for both practical project management and project‐based research.Practical implications – The primary implication is to demonstrate the v...

Generative and degenerative interactions: positive and negative dynamics of open, user-centric innovation in technology and engineering consultancies

The related concepts of open innovation and user-centric innovation are currently popular in the literature on technology and innovation management. In this paper, we attempt to address two shortcomings to their practical application. First, the precise mechanisms supporting open and user innovation in different industrial contexts are poorly specified. Second, it is not clear under what circumstances they might become dysfunctional. We identify how the interaction of meso- and micro-level mechanisms contribute to project-based user-centric innovation, based on a detailed characterization of the business activities of eight technology and engineering consultancies working across a range of sectors. We develop and illustrate the notion of generative interaction, which describes a series of mechanisms that produce a self-re-enforcing ecology, which favours innovation and profitability. At the same time, we observe the opposite dynamics of self-reinforcing degenerative interaction likely to produce a cycle of declining innovation and profitability. In the specific context of project-based firms, we show that user-centric, open innovation can affect performance negatively, and we discuss the consequences (positive and negative) of different patterns of interaction with clients.

Organizing for innovation: towards successful translational research

The current productivity crisis in drug discovery has prompted the pharmaceutical industry to decentralize R&D, which is now more responsive, more flexible and better connected to research in academia and biotechnology firms. Organizational changes are also under way in academia. Universities are expanding their technology transfer offices and research funders are investing more in translational research. This article explains how organizational changes in industry and academia can complement each other. Successful translation of research into innovative drugs needs to take account of the increasing organizational complexity of drug discovery as the knowledge to be integrated becomes more diffuse, specialized and valuable.

Projects, Paradigms and Predictability

This chapter compares and contrasts the diverse theoretical foundations of two paradigms in strategic project management. The first, older paradigm, draws on foundational ideas about nature (i.e., it is predictable) and human rationality (strategy and implementation are distinct) to conceptualize project management in terms of controlling predictable project processes and their inherent risks, so that project managers can optimize the trade-offs between timing, cost and quality. The second practice-based alternative paradigm conceptualizes people as sources of deterministic behavior in an otherwise often unpredictable world. Projects are key tools that are used to strategically create this predictable behavior, with project plans being used as scaffolding to help co-ordinate the distributed behavior of systemically connected people in space and time as the project proceeds. The chapter highlights how this second paradigm has a more robust scientific basis, shows how it informed the development of the Heathrow T5 project, and draws implications of for future theory and practice.

Vaccine innovation, translational research and the management of knowledge accumulation

What does it take to translate research into socially beneficial technologies like vaccines? Current policy that focuses on expanding research or strengthening incentives overlooks how the supply and demand of innovation is mediated by problem-solving processes that generate knowledge which is often fragmented and only locally valid. This paper details some of the conditions that allow fragmented, local knowledge to accumulate through a series of structured steps from the artificial simplicity of the laboratory to the complexity of real world application. Poliomyelitis is used as an illustrative case to highlight the importance of experimental animal models and the extent of co-ordination that can be required if they are missing. Implications for the governance and management of current attempts to produce vaccines for HIV, TB and Malaria are discussed.