INTERNATIONALIZATION OF RD AT 3M FOCUSING ON WIND ENERGY BUSINESS - CONCEPTUAL MODEL AND APPLICATION

摘要

Studies regarding decentralization of R&D abound, presenting its pros and cons as well as the factors taken into consideration when making a decision about setting up R&D units in countries other than that where the company is headquartered. Yet, a decentralized R&D unit can only undertake activities to adapt products and processes or, additionally, to carry out research on new technologies. Thus, the issue of international decentralization of R&D involves not just the decision of whether to set up a new unit in a specific country, but it also has do to with identifying the appropriate level of technological complexity this new unit will deal with. In some cases, the decentralized unit becomes a global leader in certain technologies, by developing competences that are not mastered even by the R&D unit at headquarters. Literature on this theme is scarce. Furthermore, we were unable to find a study proposing a model supported by the literature and based on a decision made by a company regarding international R&D decentralization, including identification of which technological strategies are to be allocated to the subsidiary and determination of the appropriate degree of complexity to be dealt with by the R&D Lab of the subsidiary. This study presents a conceptual model to support the decision of upgrading the level of technological complexity of a decentralized R&D unit. Some of the factors used in the decision are: the cost and competence of human resources in the target country; technology that is strategic for the business; the country's technological infrastructure, the present and potential size of the market, and the country's political and economic stability. The model also offers a means to identify the most appropriate technologies to be developed by this new unit. This model has been tested at the R&D unit of 3M in Brazil, focusing on the business of wind power generation, which is a process with low environmental impact as compared with other energy generation methods. A scripted interview was conducted with respondents from the R&D and Marketing departments of the Brazilian subsidiary of 3M, in which they were asked to score their level of agreement with the statements. The results have shown the model is a useful tool to aid in the decision-making process of upgrading the level of R&D complexity of the Brazilian subsidiary of 3M; however, as this result stems from a single sample, it cannot be generalized. The focus on wind power has a strong synergy with main theme of the conference.