The coordination of globalized R&D activities through project teams organization: an exploratory empirical study

Abstract

The paper deals with the positioning and the role of project groups in the international organization of R&D in multinational companies (MNCs). Today, MNCs develop cross-national models of organization, which require important mechanisms of coordination. They are no longer seeking only to control their overseas subsidiaries but to co-operate with them. In this process, the project is central. The question is then to know how this function of articulation is operating, i.e., by which organizational mechanisms the project allows individuals who are geographically, professionally and culturally remote to be brought together around common objectives. Today, this capacity of coordination is largely based on standardization of results and work procedures. From a methodological point of view, this paper is based on an exploratory empirical study carried out into seven MNCs in three sectors: pharmaceuticals, chemicals, computer industry. A detailed attention was paid to the organization by projects as mechanism of coordination, to its configuration and to the factors which influence it.