Creative Research Management

Cheryl R. Mitchell, Creative Research Management, Stockton, California, USA (Chapter 13)... 

The present research was made possible through an IRPA grant No. 703574, through Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). We thank USM s Research Creativity and Management Office (RCMO) and the School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, for their support. 

Parmerter, S.M. and Garber, J.P., "Creative Scientists Rate Creativity Factors", Research Management, Vol.XIV, No. 6,... 

Mauzy, J., Harriman, R. A. (2003). Three chmates for creativity. Research Technology Management, 46(3), 27-30. 

Do researchers in your company feel that they can make a difference That their creativity matters In many situations, creative ideas are never voiced, because no one further up the hierarchy ever asks for them. When we conduct scientific idea competitions in research organizations, they typically surface several hundred new ideas, many of which are truly fresh and innovative. The difference is that researchers submit their abstracts on these occasions because they know that every idea will be carefully evaluated and that senior management is personally involved in the process. They know that their creativity can make a difference. 

With pure or fundamental research the provision of commercial opportunities is, by its very nature, a long way into the future. However, in industry this is the final objective, no matter how far into the future, it is not science for the sake of science. This type of long-term work is uncommon in most chemical companies and at best only represents a very small fraction of total R D budgets, even in the largest companies. It is often contracted out or carried out in collaboration with research institutes and universities, these bodies finding that it provides them with a useful source of funding and indeed a new role in the economic welfare of a country. The time frames and measures of success are quite different from product oriented research and when carried out in industry requires special management skills. This will be dealt with in Section C on innovation and creativity. 

The reward systems, which have been dealt with earlier, can be misused with creative people. It is very easy for them to feel that only concrete measures of performance will bring rewards and that the more intangible elements, needed for creative work, will not be given their just value. They will often only respond to value judgements on their creative performance made by somebody whose own creativity, or ability to inspire creativity in others, has been proven. A Manager who has no track record in research has to work hard to get the wholehearted support and respect from high performing researchers. 

The same studies indicate that it makes sense to appoint charismatic people rather than technical superstars to lead creative teams. Technical expertise is important in R D Managers but not as essential as being able to inspire, motivate and energise research staff. Charismatic leaders demonstrate the following characteristics. 

Sylvia Hurtado I do not have the research, but I cited Taylor Cox, who has looked at small-group dynamics. Actually, some of Morgan s work talks about innovative organizations. All of them have talked about the importance of diverse perspectives and managing that. I would get a copy of Taylor Cox s book. He probably has several, but one book reviews all the research that has been done on thinking outside the box and how that relates to creativity in groups. 

Intellectual property issues need to be addressed more effectively. In the past, collaborations typically involved a company and a federal laboratory. Simple assignments of the patents or provisions for the company to license the technology were adequate. The DOE cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) Subject Invention definition can confuse intellectual property ownership. Today, the collaborations may involve several partners, the results may be used by joint ventures, or even more-creative business structures may need access to the intellectual property developed by the collaboration. Increased flexibility on how this property is managed is a key issue for the future. 

At the sharp end, marketing and sales personnel (account managers) relate with the client and help interpret the brief. This is fed into the wider team system for response within an agreed time-scale. A core team for brief response normally consists of people from Marketing, Perfumery (creative and technical) and Evaluation, whilst Research and Development may also be involved and technical advice given by the Product Applications Laboratory. As in all large companies, team working is the key. 

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