The books are listed
in three categories:
Strategy
R&D
New Product
Development |
Strategy
Competitive
Strategy,
M.E. Porter
The Free Press, London, 1980
The
classic book by one of the leading thinkers on corporate strategy. Porter's
"Five Forces" theory is widely taught, and this book puts this into overall
perspective. A little dated from today's viewpoint but still worth reading.
The Rise and
Fall of Strategic Planning,
H. Mintzberg
Prentice Hall, Harlow, 1994
An excellent book which explains the failure of
strategic and corporate planning with examples in a very readable way.
Essential reading if your company is still following the 1980's corporate
planning route, as many are.
The Economic Laws of Scientific Research
T. Kealey
Macmillan Press, London,
1996
An
excellent book on the debate between state funded and industrially funded
R&D. The views and ideas are directly transferable to the argument between
central corporate R&D and Unit R&D, which still rages in
industry.
Strategy Safari
H. Mintzberg, B Ahlstrand, J. Lampel
Prentice Hall, Hemel Hempstead,
1998
A good
and enjoyable guide to the jungle of strategy formulation. Covers the history
of corporate strategy, and identifies over ten different schools of strategic
thought. Discusses good and bad points of each.
R&D
Engineering Progress through Trouble (1975)
Engineering
Progress through Development (1978) The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London.
Two excellent sets of case
studies of large engineering development programmes ranging from the jet engine
to the large steam turbine. A fascinating history, and when it all goes
horribly wrong it's nice to know that you are in good company. I particularly
like the Pi theory of development overspend.
The Reflective Practitioner
D.A. Schone
Basic Books, NY, 1982
An interesting book reviewing
the practices of professional practitioners in all walks of life. It applies
particularly to problem solving situations such as are found in R&D and
looks at improvisation versus learned response to situations. Very thought
provoking.
Strategic Management of Technology and
Innovation
R.A.
Burgelman, M.A. Maidique
Irwin, NY, 1988
A classic book on corporate R&D management. A little dated
now, but an excellent review of the state of the art in 1988 by two leading
writers in the field.
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R&D
Tactics
H.R.
Kaufman
Front Range
Research, Fort Collins, 1989
A practical guide to R&D written by a practitioner. Full of
excellent advice. Hard to get hold of but highly
recommended.
Third Generation R&D
P.A. Roussel K. N. Saad T. J.
Erickson
Harvard
Business School Press, Boston,1991.
The classic book on corporate
R&D, expressing the progression of R&D over the past century in terms
of three generations. Still effectively state of the art.
World Class
Quality
K.R.
Bhote
AMACOM, NY, 1991
A very good
book on the design of experiments approach to problem solving as applied to
processes throughout the organisation. This thinking led eventually to Total
Quality, and the Six Sigma type of approach.
New Product
Development
Winning at New Products Edition - 2nd
Robert G Cooper
Addison Wesley, 1993
The only book to read if you
are interested in the Stage Gate method of controlling the New Product
Development process. Written by the leading guru. The section on how not to do
it makes very interesting reading. Highly recommended.
New Product Development - A Reader
S. Hart
The Dryden Press,
London, 1996
A
good introduction to New Product Development. Twenty eight seminal articles on
the subject covering topics such as; Success and failure, Strategy, Models, The
stages of the NPD process, and Interfacing with the
organisation.
Developing products in Half the Time - 2nd Edition P.G
Smith, D.G Reinertsen
Wiley & Sons, NY. 1998
What can I say? Reinertson claims to do what it says
on the cover. Seriously though, a very practical guide to improving the
development process. Based to some extent on a novel application of queuing
theory.
Managing
the Design Factory
D.G. Reinertsen
The Free Press, NY. 1997
Reinertsen's follow-up book expanding on his ideas
from "Developing products in Half the Time". I would recommend reading book one
first.
The
Innovation War
C.
F. Von Braun
Prentice
Hall, London, 1997
An interesting proposal that R&D has developed into a form
of arms race. Poses quite deep questions about the nature and reasons for
industrial R&D. Thought provoking
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