Global r&d development model
- 1. Development Model for Knowledge Intensive Organizations for Global Product Development Jouni Pirhonen jouni.pirhonen@gmail.com Jouni.pirhonen@gmail.com
- 2. Balancing global cost structure Strategic mixture of experience, skill and cost bases Long-term competitive advantage Complements current global R&D operation Balancing region/country related risks Availability of skilled professionals Balancing global resource pool in multi-site development Customer and Market Proximity R&D serving important customers or geographic market jouni.pirhonen@gmail.com
- 3. Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Learner Supporter Contributor Business Owner Characteristics: Characteristics: Characteristics: Characteristics: • High burn-rate • Depended on technology • Adds economical value • Fully capable for system • Projects subordinated to capability of the HQ • New global and local design and development “global” programs organization. development projects • Contributes to company • Expats staff in key roles • More project transfers • R&D Ownership culture • HQ team has technology • Increasing technical • Global customer support • Business ownership responsibility capability • Most positions localized • Global management • “Resource pool mode” positions Key activities: Key activities: Key activities: • Set-up the Core team • First own R&D projects • Responsibility hand-over Key activities: • Recruit QUALITY • Hiring focus in balancing • Leads global projects • Establish business • Transfer and rotate skills and resource pool. • Retain the key staff leadership positions expats technical experts • Typically several transfer • Innovations, IPRs • Ensure global focus of the • Establish support functions projects simultaneously • Redeployment of HQ R&D local leadership team • Maintain diversity Drive to phase 3 as fast as possible; Responsibility Phase 4: Global Transform to value-adding global contributor. HAND-OVER business owner; more than R&D jouni.pirhonen@gmail.com 12-24 months
- 4. Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Learner Supporter Contributor Business Owner 1st year 1-3 years Long-term Establish the Core: Ramp-up the Pool: Grow and sustain: Build experienced core team for Increase ratio of fresh engineers; Building skills and experience. rapid competence transfer balancing for cost efficiency. Planned replacements. Productivity starts improving Established core team ensures Product quality and productivity after core team is established. that productivity improves, even improves, because organization Quality of deliverables is still hiring focus moves to less has both experience and responsibility of the HQ experienced candidates. resources. organization and expats. Core team Balanced growth Solid organization guarantees ensures improving guarantees successful ramp-up productivity predictable quality jouni.pirhonen@gmail.com
- 5. Establish the core Recruitment focus in acquiring experience for rapid competence capture 1st year On-boarding run in project mode; indoctrination into company culture and values Team of expatriate on site; needed for experience sharing and tacit knowledge transfer Ramp-up the pool 1-3 Recruitment focus in building the resource pool; maintain competence threshold years Prepare the organization plan and compensation strategy for long-term operation Retain the core team ; rotate new expatriates for complementing the skill set Grow and sustain Ramp-down expatriate team. Retain diversity; important for successful global operation Long- term Assume more global responsibility and operational accountability Retain the experienced core staff to maintain productivity and quality jouni.pirhonen@gmail.com
- 6. Tacit knowledge, experience, learnt by working together ◦ Methods: Expats, short-term transfers, business trips, on- job training, coaching ◦ Undocumented technology, process and product knowledge, cumulated in the organization, held by the experts. ◦ Extremely important, when existing project is transferred Explicit knowledge, based on documents, training: ◦ Methods: Trainings, documents, self-learning, learning- by-doing ◦ Documented processes, technical information, standards. ◦ Professional technology and process publications. ◦ Product documents, blueprints, schemas, project plans. jouni.pirhonen@gmail.com
- 7. Experience transfer requires expatriates and STTs: ◦ Managers, technical experts, product experts, culture agents ◦ Works both ways: Send expats to work at “HQ” R&D ◦ Rotate technology experts; this helps in tacit knowledge sharing Expat focus: ◦ 0 -12 months; main focus in rapid competence transfer ◦ 12-24 months: focus shifting to responsibility transfer ◦ 24-36 months: responsibility hand-over Expat requirement: ◦ Pedagogical skills, Coaching, Technology know- how, Leadership, Communication, Company culture and values, Common sense jouni.pirhonen@gmail.com
- 8. This document presents a simplified model for the evolution of the developing R&D site. Technology transfer program may include several work streams like laboratories, development tools, production, IT infrastructure etc. It is important to define the desired role for each R&D site based on the global R&D strategy. Ramp-up and responsibility transfer starts a chain of changes in the R&D site. It is important to have serious change leadership skills available. jouni.pirhonen@gmail.com