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The books are listed in three categories:
Strategy
R&D
New
Product Development
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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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