Role of Research and Development in Strategic Planning

Business or Organizations who are in their infancy or who are in their maturity need a very essential tool to assure survival. That tool is none other than Research and Development or R & D. Research and Development was extensively used by the pharmaceutical industry and those involved in scientific projects because it was considered an essential, a necessity. Today, however, small, medium-sized and large business and organizations have to employ research and development. It has become a necessity as well to business or organizations that desire to survive in the modern marketplace.

Research and Development is Essential

The roots of research and development go all the way back to ancient times. When kings and kingdoms waged war against each other, they would employ certain techniques of information gathering. The sole purpose of which was to gain an upper hand during the actual war or battle. This information was used to aid in the formulation of offensive and defensive strategies.

The same principles hold true today. Business or organizations need to gather information as part of its research and development, with the same purpose. That is of gaining an upper hand in the business battle. The modern day marketplace is a conglomeration of every conceivable product or service, almost. An in order to gain an advantage over the others excellently planned and analyzed research and development will do the job.

The method and the kind of research and development may not be the uniform in all business or organizations. But the goal is similar; to use data, information, behavior and the like, gathered in the research and development for the ultimate good and existence of the business or organization.

Connecting with End-Users

The purpose of business or organizations is to create and keep customers. This statement has been the driving force behind the efforts of retailers, manufacturers and service providers. But creating and keeping customers is no easy task. It is hard work, but it is hard work that results in a good pay off. To create and keep customers, business or organizations need an excellent research and development effort.

The primary goal of such effort is to begin with identifying the customer and his needs. If you begin with a product or an idea and start to find ways to sell it, you got the whole equation wrong. Research and development should and must connect business or organizations to the End-Users, the customer. And to do that one has to ask the right questions. Who is our customer? What are his needs? What are his wants? Who are currently providing it?

These questions allow business and organizations to channel research and development to the right direction. Asking the right questions will develop ones sensitivity (to what the customer needs and wants), and the right question will develop ones sensibility as well (to what products or services will satisfy them).

The research and development effort begins with identifying the customer. In a world where products and services have almost become like fashion “here today, gone tomorrow; the quicker the business or organization identifies its customers, the better its chance of providing a product or service on time.

Examples abound: mobile phones have always had a feature called SMS, and it was not utilized by the west, however, it was in Asia that customers discovered it can we a new way to communicate, Text as they call it. Phone manufacturers, who were able to quickly identify the end-user, came up with the phone and equipment and thus have a well-entrenched position in the industry. Customers sometimes might be difficult to identify but they are out there waiting.