Robert T. Keller

Cross-Functional Project Groups in Research and New Product Development: Diversity, Communications, Job Stress, and Outcomes

A model of cross-functional project groups was developed and hypotheses were tested in a study of 93 research and new product development groups from four companies. The results showed that functio...

Transformational leadership, initiating structure, and substitutes for leadership: a longitudinal study of research and development project team performance.

Transformational leadership, initiating structure, and selected substitutes for leadership were studied as longitudinal predictors of performance in 118 research and development (R&D) project teams from 5 firms. As hypothesized, transformational leadership predicted 1-year-later technical quality, schedule performance, and cost performance and 5-year-later profitability and speed to market. Initiating structure predicted all the performance measures. The substitutes of subordinate ability and an intrinsically satisfying task each predicted technical quality and profitability, and ability predicted speed to market. Moderator effects for type of R&D work were hypothesized and found whereby transformational leadership was a stronger predictor of technical quality in research projects, whereas initiating structure was a stronger predictor of technical quality in development projects. Implications for leadership theory and research are discussed.

Leadership in research and development organizations: A literature review and conceptual framework

Abstract We present a conceptual framework and review the empirical literature on leadership in research and development (R&D) organizations. Findings of studies reviewed suggest that transformational project leaders who communicate an inspirational vision and provide intellectual stimulation and leaders who develop a high-quality leader–member exchange (LMX) relationship with project members are associated with project success. Boundary-spanning activity and championing by the leader are also found to be important factors for project success. The review also suggests that a number of moderators and contextual variables such as project group membership and rate of technological change may make leadership in R&D organizations different from that in operating organizations. Propositions for future research are suggested.

The Role of Performance and Absenteeism in the Prediction of Turnover

The article discusses research pertaining to the role of performance and absenteeism in the prediction of labor turnover relative to other predictors. Absenteeism may have played the dual role of e...

Role Dynamics, Locus of Control, and Employee Attitudes and Behavior

A study of interrelationships among role variables, locus of control, and subordinate satisfaction and performance revealed that: (a) internals perceived less role conflict, were neither more satis...

Boundary-Spanning Roles in a Research and Development Organization: An Empirical Investigation

The article reports on the importance of boundary-spanning roles (BSA), which serve to link organizations confirmed by research. They are vital to the effective monitoring of the environment as wel...

Communicators and Innovators in Research and Development Organizations

The article discusses research pertaining to the personal characteristics of communicators and innovators in research and development (R&D) organizations. Preliminary results suggested an overlap b...

A Cross-Validation Study of the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory in Three Research and Development Organizations.

A cross-validation study of the Kirton Adaption- Innovation Inventory (KAI) was conducted with 256 professional employees from three applied research and development organizations. The KAI was found to correlate well with direct measures of in novativeness (peer-nomination and management- rated measures of innovativeness) as well as with in direct indicators of innovativeness (number of pub lications, education, performance as rated by man agement, organizational level, self-esteem, intoler ance of ambiguity, and need for clarity). These re sults, moreover, held up well in each of the three research and development organizations. The orig inality subscale was found to be a potentially useful short version of the KAI. Implications for the use of the KAI are discussed.

Dimensions of national culture and the productivity of R&D units

Abstract This research examined the ability of Hofstedes (1980) cultural dimensions to predict productivity for 302 industrial and 506 academic research and development units from Austria, Belgium, Finland, and Sweden contained in the UNESCO International Comparative Study (Andrews, 1979). As hypothesized, low power distance and high masculinity each predicted productivity output counts. Uncertainty avoidance was not a significant predictor of productivity, and hypotheses for performance efficiency ratings were not supported. Implications for Hofstedes concepts and the management of research and development are discussed.

A multinational study of work climate, job satisfaction, and the productivity of R&D teams

A study was conducted covering 658 industrial and 1033 academic R&D teams in 11 countries, not including the United States. The climate variable of work importance explained unique variance in publication of original articles as well as external ratings of technical quality for both samples. The climate variable of participation/cooperation accounted for unique variance in articles published in both samples, and in technical quality ratings for the industrial sample. Satisfaction with pay/advancement explained unique variance in patents for the industrial sample and in articles for the academic sample. Satisfaction with supervision accounted for unique variance in patents and technical quality ratings for the academic sample. The inclusion of country as a control variable had some effects on the results, but still left work climate and job satisfaction as relatively robust predictors of R&D team productivity. Implications for R&D managers are discussed in the paper.