Book Reviews : Managing Large Research and Development Programmes Henry W. Lane, Rodney G. Beddows & Paul R. Lawrence:New York: State University of New York Press, 1981, pp. 176, Cloth $39:00, Paper $12:95, ISBN 0 87395 473 4 (cloth), 0 87395 474 2 (paper
Abstract
209 Book ReviewsManaging Large Research and Development Programmes Henry W. Lane, Rodney G. Beddows & Paul R. LawrenceNew York: State University of New York Press, 1981, pp. 176, Cloth $39:00, Paper $12:95, ISBN 0 87395 473 4 (cloth), 0 87395 474 2 (paper SAGE Publications, Inc.1981DOI: 10.1177/135050768101200309 K. Alsop Director, Management of Research Course, Brunel Management Programme This is a fascinating book, based on a study of a number of big R. & D. programmes (or 'programs', for this is an American book) undertaken within the famous Bell Telephone Laboratories on the one hand and under the auspices of the National Institutes of Health on the other. The authors examine in some detail nine such programmes, some successful, some unsuccessful, in an effort to produce a model of the innovation process that is capable of throwing useful light on the programmes studied - in particular, why some failed and some succeeded - and of helping R. & D. managers to manage the innovation process successfully. They were fortunate in the extent to which both Bell and the NIH co-operated both willingly and fully and made their records available for detailed analysis. At a superficial level, the lessons the