Big Data and the Future of R&D Management

OVERVIEW:

This study explores the concept of big data and whether, and to what extent, it might affect R&D management in the future. Through extensive discussions to dissect the nature of big data and to achieve a common understanding of what it represents, a research framework was constructed to analyze the impact of big data based on its potential to inform, enable, and transform or disrupt R&D management across four dimensions: strategy, people, technology, and process integration. A literature review, interviews with experts, and case studies of organizations using big data demonstrate that this phenomenon will have significant implications for R&D and innovation management, although the nature and extent of that impact is somewhat uneven among different industry sectors.

KEYWORDS:

• Big data
• Digitalization
• IRI research

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael Blackburn

Michael Blackburn is the portfolio/program leader for Global Research Management at Cargill. Mike joined Cargill’s corn milling business in 1980 and held multiple roles in Quality Assurance Management and Research and Development Management. In 2001, he became director of scientific resources, overseeing locations in the United States and Europe. He became Enterprise Architecture Modeling Lead in 2008 as part of Cargill’s program to improve business processes and moved to his current role in 2011. He has a BS in biology and chemistry from Wright State University, an MS in engineering management from the University of Massachusetts, and a ThD from Christian Leadership University. [email protected]

Jeffrey Alexander

Jeffrey Alexander is senior manager, innovation policy, at RTI International. He has more than 25 years of experience conducting in-depth analyses of high-technology markets, tracking and evaluating R&D strategies and policies, and advising national and regional governments on technology program funding and implementation. He is coauthor of Global and Local Knowledge: Glocal Transatlantic Public-Private Partnerships for Research & Technology Development (Palgrave 2006). He holds a PhD in the management of science, technology, and innovation from the George Washington University and a BA in international relations from Stanford University, where he completed the honors program in science, technology, and society. [email protected]

J. David Legan

J. David Legan is an experienced technical leader with an international record of strategic project, team, and idea leadership; breakthrough innovation; client collaboration; and people development in large and small businesses. He managed the corporate microbiology laboratory and initiated a program of microbial modeling and new technology evaluation at Nabisco. At Kraft, he worked in an open innovation model with universities and other external partners to find, evaluate, and develop food safety and preservation technologies to protect consumers, especially those that offer alternatives to artificial preservatives. He has a BSc in applied biology from the University of Bath and a PhD in food technology from the University of Reading. [email protected]

Diego Klabjan

Diego Klabjan is a professor at Northwestern University. He joined Northwestern’s faculty as an assistant professor in 2001 and was promoted to full professor in 2012. His research is focused on applying machine learning in the areas of health care, transportation, and finance. He has served as an assistant professor in the University of Illinois’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the recipient of the INFORMS 2000 Transportation Science Dissertation Award and the Preseren’s Award, given by the University of Ljublana, Slovenia, for the outstanding undergraduate thesis. [email protected]