The Influence of the Strategic Planning Approach on the Research Agenda of R&D Organizations

Strategic planning in a research and development (R&D) organization requires a different approach in analyzing and designing research programs and projects, because of the specificity of its objectives and activities. Therefore, deploying a traditional business strategic planning approach might not meet all of the organizational goals. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how the strategic portfolio analysis using simple tools can be used to translate the strategy and influence the research agenda of an R&D organization. Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) has developed a general and simple portfolio model that can enable organizations, in particular, R&D organizations to develop manageable research agenda that meet the strategic objectives of the organization. KISR was used as a case study enterprise to demonstrate this phenomenon and accordingly develop a practical model.