The Return On Research

摘要

Business leaders are often vexed by research and development spending. How much money do you put into R&D when it could be 10 years before you see a payoff as products hit the market ?rnHewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd has pushed hard to take guesswork out of the equation. Since arriving at HP four yearsrnago, he's developed one of the most quantitative approaches to R&D in the tech industry. The strategy has helped HP keep its footing during the economic downturn, even as rivals like Dell have struggled. "They have the gold standard," says James Andrew, head of the global innovation practice at Boston Consulting Group.rnThe key is linking R&D spending to specific product lines. Of the $3.5 billion that goes into HP Labs, the company allocates the money based on where it expects the biggest payoffs.