Top management support of R&D projects: a strategic leadership perspective

A study of top management support of 213 R&D projects in 21 major firms revealed significant relationships between independent informants´ perceptions of top management support, project characteristics, and project performance. Testing a model based on a strategic leadership perspective, top management support was found to be directed at certain types of projects, i.e., those that were expected to make greater contributions to business goals, represented larger investments, were seeking new products and process versus incremental improvements, and had originated from business sources as opposed to R&D. In addition, even after controlling for these project characteristics, projects with top management support were less likely to be terminated. In contrast, after controlling for project characteristics, completed projects with top management support were not judged to make greater contributions to the firm´s business goals suggesting top management may not be able to pick winners. Findings are discussed in terms of future research and implications for top management leadership within R&D