R&D Consortia: A Benchmark Study

This is a book on cooperatively funded R&D by industry in the United States in the 1970s. The book discusses the size of consortia (average = $125 million), their industrial focus (non-technology intensive industries), their mission (improving existing technology), and their value (members believe benefits justify costs). These and other results are discussed for the light they shed on R&D Strategy and government policy.

The study found that American consortia with in-house laboratories are staffed by competent leaders and professionals but these same people underestimate the uniqueness and difficulty of managing cooperative innovation. This weakness leads consortia labs to miss opportunities to discover and support High Risk, Expensive, and Major Advances in their industries. The book presents a set of Non-obvious Principles for managing the Cooperative Innovation ad correcting this weakness.