R&D Management

R&D vision building and portfolio restructuring for a high-tech manufacturer

Formerly competitive high-tech electronics maker A faced deteriorating profits owing to rapid environmental changes, such as technological obsolescence and market saturation. It was also under pressure to divert R&D funds to meet the challenge of an upcoming discontinuous technological jump, but was unable to attain internal consensus to change the existing R&D portfolio.

A company cannot reap the fruit of a new future by resting on past success. To extricate itself from the stagnant situation, A chose Roland Berger to help it rebuild its R&D vision with a next-generation orientation and restructure its investment portfolio accordingly.

We began by working with the client to build several future scenarios based on an analysis of the change drivers in the market and their implications. After evaluating the data and dynamics of these scenarios, we developed the most realistic scenario option. Having come to the shared recognition that the company had underestimated the impact of the Internet Society, we comprehensively evaluated the chosen future scenario, the probability of technological innovation, and the technology map, creating an R&D vision.

New technology is worthless unless it becomes a commercial reality accepted by the market. Unfortunately, manufacturers often focus on the seeds of technology so much that they forget about market needs. To execute our vision, the joint consultant-client team collected objective data and conducted tenacious analysis at the client site. Specifically, we assessed the business value of each R&D project using the objective indicators of business strategy, customer value, competitive superiority and technological difficulty. The results clearly showed that the Internet-related performance of existing products was insufficient and that A habitually invested resources in technologies that produced no customer value.

We leveraged these analyses to formulate next-generation strategic technologies and a new investment portfolio that clarified the best resources. As a result, we were able to implement scrap and build R&D projects exceeding client expectations. Furthermore, cooperation grew among board members with technical backgrounds, enabling them to develop technologies outside their domains, and a culture stressing needs over seeds began to take root. Since then, A has developed a revolutionary technology with the industry’s greatest competitive edge and delivered it to market. It is recovering steadily.

Takashi Hirai
Partner
E-mail:

Masugi Kaminaga
Partner
E-mail: