1、 1 本科毕业论文外文原文 外文题目： HOW R&D TRANSFORMED DSM 出 处： Research Technology Management 作 者： Arjan wan Rooij 原 文： HOW R&D TRANSFORMED DSM Abstract A long-term perspective on R&D at the Dutch chemical company DSM illuminates two crucial and interrelated challenges in the management of R&D. On the one hand, c
2、ompanies must keep their research focused on the technologies and markets they use and avoid research its sponsor cannot profit from. On the other hand, companies must enable R&D to generate the options that can revitalize its current businesses and open up new ones. These options may be risky and f
3、all outside the framework of current markets and technologies but at the same time promise high profits and ensure survival in competitive, high-tech industries. To realize the full potential of R&D, companies need to create an arena for research: a space where R&D can generate options and where mut
4、ual commitment between R&D and the company can be nurtured. What is, and what should be, the role of R&D in a company? How should business management direct R&D? Such questions occupied companies during the 20th century and will continue to occupy them in this one. This article explores these issues
5、 with the example of the Dutch chemical company DSM. This company has survived for more than a century by transforming itself from a coal mining company to a fertilizer producer, to a diversified bulk chemicals company, and again to a company focused on fine chemicals and high performance materials
6、(7).These transformations make DSM a very interesting company to study. Two lessons can be drawn from the case of DSM. First, R&D investment is cyclical (2). R&D budgets rise and fall, coupled to the companys financial performance and shifts in its business climate. Moreover, management views of R&D
7、 are cyclical the pressure for 2 integration with (short-term) business objectives rises and falls. R&Ds arena the extent to which it can explore and develop options for the company widens and narrows in response to these cyclical shifts in spending and strategic considerations. The case of DSM show
8、s, however, that R&Ds arena cannot be narrowed endlessly. R&D needs to be integrated with business strategy but in such a way that short-term business objectives do not prevail and that R&D can generate options for the company. Business strategy offers an important way to achieve such integration. 1
9、. The R&D Cycle DSM transformed itself three times over the course of the 20th century. The R&D budget grew rapidly until 1970 but fell quickly afterwards. Spending on R&D increased again in the 1980s but not at the level of the period before 1970. This is not a surprising pattern. Other companies w
10、ent through similar periods of growth and (relative) decline after World War II. There is, of course, a strong link with macroeconomic trends. In the chemical industry, the period between 1945 and 1970 was a unique period of spectacular growth and seemingly endless technological opportunities. After
11、 1970, growth slowed, and two oil shocks and increasingly stringent environmental regulation had a tremendous impact on the industry. From a long-term perspective, the chemical industry normalized and ups and downs followed each other periodically. In markets that grew more slowly, innovation became
12、 more difficult. The shifts in DSMs R&D budget also reflect, and are linked to, shifts in business strategy and the companys evolution. The Dutch government established DSM in 1902 as a coal mining firm, responding to the activities of private firms in the coal-rich province of Limburg, in the south
13、 of the Netherlands. The fields to be exploited by DSM proved rich in bituminous coal, a type of coal that was particularly suited for the production of coke, a fuel used for firing blast furnaces and other industrial purposes. Producing coke meant producing coke oven gas a gas that was similar to t
14、he coal-based town gas widely used for heating, lighting and other purposes. Coke oven gas also contained commercially interesting compounds such as benzene and toluene that were extracted and sold. In the 1910s, the company quickly developed into a large coal company with related capabilities in me
15、chanical engineering. The build-up of the fertilizer works in the late 1920s 3 and in the 1930s led the company to hire chemists and engineers and to expand the internal knowledge base. At the fertilizer works, and also at the coke oven plants, works laboratories conducted routine production control
16、 and analysis. In 1935, the leaders of the works laboratories proposed establishing a formal, centralized R&D laboratory separate from the production organization. This proposal led to the establishment of Central Laboratory, an R&D facility that would remain DSMs most important one until the 1990s.
17、 From its base in fertilizers and with its R&D laboratory, DSM expanded further and diversified in chemicals after World War II. All branches of the chemical industry grew rapidly and gradually switched from coal-based feed stocks to hydrocarbons. Synthetic materials, plastics, fibers, and resins, w
18、ere new fields with high rates of innovation. DSM expanded its fertilizer operations and started production of fiber intermediates, plastics and resins. At the same time, the coal and coke businesses went into decline. In 1965, the Dutch government decided to close all coal mines in the Netherlands,
19、 including those owned by private companies, after which DSM quickly closed its coke plants and mines, and switched the feedstock base of its chemical operations from coal to hydrocarbons. DSMs executive board concluded that the companys chemical businesses were strong but that further expansion was
20、 critical if the company was to survive the closure of its coal-related activities and continue in the chemical industry. Around 1970, the growth of the chemical industry slowed. Markets for new products like plastics and older products like fertilizers both showed signs of saturation, and environme
21、ntal regulation tightened. Biotechnology and advanced materials attracted a lot of attention but were slow to realize their perceived commercial potential. DSMs portfolio tilted heavily toward plastics, fertilizers and other bulk chemicals that were hit hardest by the malaise. Moreover, growth of ch
22、emical markets slowed down while DSM went through a phase of expansion and diversification. Sales increased sharply in the 1970s but profitability lagged. In the late 1970s, DSMs executive board considered changing its strategy. After the company had to report its first loss in its history in 1982, strategy shifted from expansion in bulk chemicals to seeking products with high value-added. After 1985, when the companys results had improved, this strategy could be fully implemented and the R&D budget started to grow.
