Strategic R&D Management

Add this program to MyWharton (Login required)

Dates Location Tuition
Mar 1, 2009 - Mar 6, 2009 Philadelphia $8,750
May 11, 2009 - May 15, 2009 Singapore €8,200
Jun 15, 2009 - Jun 19, 2009 Fontainebleau, France €8,200


The Wharton / Insead Alliance logo
To apply for programs held in Singapore or Fontainebleau, please visit INSEAD's website.
Research and development management has moved from the back office to center stage to leading edge, becoming a key driver of business success. Gone are the days when a good R&D manager required only technical expertise. The drive for growth, the search for new ideas and new ways of doing things, and increasing competitive pressures have transformed the R&D function into one of primary strategic importance. This new role has radically changed relationships with other business functions, such as manufacturing, marketing, and finance.

Understanding the new lead that R&D is taking in successful companies is the focus of Wharton's Strategic R&D Management program. Our premise is that R&D is integrated into the structure of the firm, with a goal of improving the management of R&D in relation to other functions, rather than within the function itself. Participants are not here to review the basics of R&D management but to develop a new business perspective. They will discover the opportunities this new role offers and the challenges they will face. The program helps leaders of R&D organizations to place their work in the larger strategic and organizational environment. Faculty provide tools to actively manage the relationships to other functions, providing participants with a way to ensure that R&D plays a more strategic role in the firm.

The Alliance between the Wharton School and INSEAD combines the resources of two world leaders in management education to deliver top-quality business education to executives across three dedicated campuses: Wharton's U.S. campus in Philadelphia and those of INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France, and Singapore.

For programs in Philadelphia: Tuition includes all meals and hotel accommodations. The program begins on Monday morning and concludes on Friday; hotel check-in is available on Sunday evening.

For programs in Fontainebleau and Singapore: Tuition does not include accommodations. To register for these programs, please visit INSEAD's website.

Prices are subject to change. Program Consultants are available to provide more information on course specifics and discuss how this program might meet your needs. Please contact them at +1.215.898.1776 or by e-mail.


Ready To Register? Apply for This Program
Want To Learn More? Contact a Program Consultant
Still Researching? Request Materials

As part of the Wharton/INSEAD alliance, this program offers research-based perspectives on strategic R&D management from professors from around the world. You will benefit from our professors’ first-hand experience with companies that have taken a lead in strategic R&D management in diverse industries and environments. The faculty combine expertise in strategy, operations, technology management, organizational studies, and risk management to offer cross-functional perspectives on R&D.

The program uses a combination of case studies, interactive group exercises, and lectures in which participants will have the opportunity to learn from other organizations, receive immediate feedback from the faculty, and to network with peers from around the world.

In addition, participants will engage in a simulation developed by Wharton faculty. The participant assumes the role of a senior executive at a global pharmaceuticals firm in charge of managing the R&D pipeline and will be asked to value projects, allocate resources, and plan portfolios in a highly uncertain and competitive environment.

Strategic R&D Management Program Session Topics

  • Portfolio Management and Risk Analysis
  • Linking R&D to Business Strategy
  • R&D Performance Measurement
  • Managing the R&D Pipeline
  • Global R&D
  • Creativity and Innovation
  • Organizational Forms of R&D
  • Partnerships and Alliances
  • New Category Products

Related R&D Management Articles

Wharton Feature Story

Wharton@Work: EBuzz

Knowledge@Wharton
Requires a one-time complimentary registration to Knowledge@Wharton.

INSEAD Knowledge

Senior managers involved with R&D or with direct responsibility for R&D organizations will gain the most from this program. Participants are typically project or program managers of major research, directors of labs or engineering organizations and development initiatives, or other managers with a heavy stake in the company's R&D.

We encourage companies to send cross-functional teams of executives to leverage the application and value of the program. Additional group benefits are available when four or more participants attend a program.

Develop a new business perspective, as opposed to simply reviewing the basics of R&D management, through sessions such as Portfolio Management and Risk Analysis, Creativity and Innovation, and Partnerships and Alliances. You will:

  • Ensure that R&D plays a more strategic role in the firm.
  • Drive growth through improving innovation processes to create value for the firm.
  • Strategically determine the allocation of resources to prioritize projects.

Christian Terwiesch, PhD CHRISTIAN TERWIESCH, PhD
Academic Director
Associate Professor of Operations and Information Management
The Wharton School

Christian Terwiesch is a leading thinker in the areas of information sharing in teams and in supply chains, managing the R&D portfolio, project management, product customization, and business processes design. In addition to his research and teaching both MBA’s and executives, Terwiesch is actively involved in industry, including consulting on forecast sharing in supply chains (Intel), product customization strategies (Dell), and information sharing in product development teams (BMW).
undefined SHANTANU H. BHATTACHARYA
Academic Director
Associate Professor of Operations Management
INSEAD

Shantanu H. Bhattacharya is associate professor of operations management at INSEAD. His teaching and research interests are in the areas of technology management, operations management, supply chain management and new product and services development. Professor Bhattacharya is a member of INFORMS, has made several presentations on managing uncertainty in the high-technology industry, and his research has appeared in Management Science. He holds a PhD in management from the University of Texas at Austin; an MSc in electrical engineering from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; and a BTech in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in India. Prior to joining INSEAD, Professor Bhattacharya was an instructor at the University of Texas at Austin. Click here to view full bio on INSEAD's website.
undefined ARNOUD DE MEYER
Akzo Nobel Fellow of Strategic Management
Professor of Technology Management and Asian Business
INSEAD

Arnoud De Meyer is a leading expert on strategic management, with a specific focus on Asia. Formerly Deputy Dean of INSEAD, in charge of Administration and External Relations, he is the newly appointed Director of the Judge Business School of the University of Cambridge. Professor de Meyer also served as a visiting professor at Keio Business School and Waseda University, both in Tokyo. His primary research interests are in manufacturing and technology strategy, the implementation of new manufacturing technologies, and the management of R&D. Since the beginning of his academic career, he has invested in understanding how innovation can be managed more effectively. Over the last 20 years, he has published widely on this topic in academic and management journals and consults to companies in both Europe and Asia.
undefined KARL T. ULRICH, ScD
Chairperson, Operations and Information Management Department
Professor of Operations and Information Management
The Wharton School

Karl Ulrich is professor of operations and information management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His research activities are focused on product design and development, including work with Boeing, Hewlett-Packard, Polaroid, United Technologies, and Eastman-Kodak. His current projects study the management of product variety, with particular emphasis on the relationships among product architecture, market strategy, and production process design. Professor Ulrich has been a member of development teams for more than 30 new products or processes, including medical devices, tools, computer peripherals, food products, and sporting goods. As a result of this development work, he has been granted 18 patents. From 1999-2002, while on leave from Wharton, he founded and managed Nova Cruz Products, a manufacturer of high-performance personal transportation products.
undefined CHRISTOPH H. LOCH
The GlaxoSmithKline Chaired Professor of Corporate Innovation
Professor of Technology and Operations Management
Dean, PhD Program
INSEAD

Christoph Loch is the newly appointed Dean of the PhD Program of INSEAD. He is the author of numerous books and articles on R&D management, including "Managing Project Uncertainty: From Variation to Chaos" (Sloan Management Review, Winter 2002). His research focus on the management of R&D and the product innovation process, particularly technology strategy, project selection, concurrent engineering, project management under high uncertainty, collaborative problem solving, and performance measurement. He is also interested in the motivation of professional personnel in organizations (such as R&D organizations), in particular, the emotional aspects of motivation and performance. Click here to view full bio on INSEAD's website.

"I particularly appreciated the case study and the interactions between the professors and all the participants. The professors were excellent, and they treated a large variety of topics during this one-week program. They provide useful tools to efficiently manage R&D." —Director, Network Architecture, Alcatel

"The program opens new perspectives, new views on R&D management. The exercises in small groups were very helpful to understand and to apply the concepts."
—Senior R&D Project Manager, Angiomed C. R. Bard

Wharton Also Recommends

If you are interested in this program, you might also enjoy:

Competitive Marketing Strategy

Anticipate competitors’ moves during the planning stage, and analyze their strengths and weaknesses. By anticipating potential competitive responses, you can develop effective marketing strategies for the long term.

Strategic Thinking and Management for Competitive Advantage

Strategic Thinking helps you meet, head on, the challenge of building strategy. It distills and applies the latest strategic insights and approaches. Assess the competition in your industry, create coherent and forceful strategies for your future, and apply them to your own situation.