Publications
Publications
- 2023
- HBS Working Paper Series
Coordinated R&D Programs and the Creation of New Industries
By: Daniel P. Gross and Maria P. Roche
Abstract
Government R&D programs have a long history in supporting industry development, yet their impacts are often overlooked in strategy research. We examine how a large, coordinated, government-funded effort to develop radar in World War II spawned a new high-tech industry. Led by an organization stood up to conduct and manage radar R&D - the MIT Radiation Laboratory - it brought together researchers and firms without previous collaborative ties, who were otherwise unlikely to work together, into a temporary cooperative enterprise that rapidly advanced technology and connected R&D to manufacturing and the battlefield. This effort set the building blocks of the nascent postwar radar industry: new technical knowledge, human capital, manufacturing capacity, and demand. The urgency of war, and coordinated investment, accelerated industry incubation from decades to under five years.
Keywords
Research and Development; Policy; Business and Government Relations; Technological Innovation; Collaborative Innovation and Invention
Citation
Gross, Daniel P., and Maria P. Roche. "Coordinated R&D Programs and the Creation of New Industries." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 24-027, April 2023.