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History

Background

CIMS was founded in 1984 as a cooperative Industry/ University Research Center. Its mission was to fund academic research on topics that industrial R&D managers identified as important for improving the general understanding of the technological innovation process and how it could be managed more effectively. The primary impetus for CIMS came from the Research-on-Research Committee of the Industrial Research Institute and a team of researchers from the University of Cincinnati. Funding from the National Science Foundation was instrumental in demonstrating the viability of the concept of research cooperation between these two communities, and in the subsequent growth and continuity of the Center.

CIMS History

In 1968-69, the Industrial Research Institute conducted a workshop on Research-on-Research, funded by the National Science Foundation. It published its proceedings in RESEARCH MANAGEMENT. The article set forth a research agenda that IRI members believed should be addressed to advance knowledge about the practice of 'Research Management', as it was then called. The article called for the establishment of one or more university research centers that would focus academic attention on this agenda.

While a few academics responded to the above agenda, no university 'centers' had emerged through the early 1970's. In the meantime, 'Industrial Innovation' had become a 'cause celebre' on the national scene via the 1971-72 publication of the Arthur D. Little 'Charpie Report', sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce. The report called attention to shortcomings in the U.S. system of government Policies and industrial management practices that threatened U.S. economic progress because of their lack of understanding and appreciation of the social & economic effects of industrial innovation.

Under President Nixon, a White House study of the problem discussed in the Charpie report was launched, chaired by Wm. Magruder, Exec. V.P. of Piedmont Airlines. Three initiatives emerged: The Experimental Technological Incentives Program (ETIP) in the Dept of Commerce; the Experimental Research & Development Incentives Program (ERDIP) in the National Science Foundation; and the National R&D Assessment (RDA) program, also in the NSF. Throughout the 1970's, the RDA program and its successor, the Division of Policy Research & Analysis, supported academic research on the nature and effectiveness of industrial R&D/innovation management practices, with an eye toward assessing the impact of government policies (eg. patent policies; tax policies; environmental policies; SBIC policies) on 'the rate and direction of industrial innovation' in the U.S. By 1975, a liaison was established between the IRI and the NSF through this program.

In the late 1970's, the IRI decided to launch its own Research-on-Research organization to pursue the innovation management research agenda that had evolved since the publication of the 1969 RESEARCH MANAGEMENT report. The IRI Research Corporation (IRIRC) was formed to provide an industrial perspective on the research management & national policy issues of the day. Initial funding was provided by the IRI, but the IRIRC was expected to become self supporting within a year or so, with IRI funds replaced by government grants & contracts. The IRIRC submitted research proposals to several agencies, was successful a few times, but was unable to become financially self-sufficient. By 1978 the IRIRC was forced to close down for financial reasons.

By 1979, the NSF, which had funded one of the successful IRIRC proposals, found that proposals involving collaboration between the IRI membership and academic investigators reviewed much better than those submitted by industry (the IRIRC) alone. Based on strong peer reviews, and despite the demise of the IRIRC, the PRA division at NSF decided to fund a two-year study of 'The Success & Failure of Industrial Innovations'. The project was proposed by the University of Cincinnati, in collaboration with the members of the Research-on-Research Committee of the IRI, lead by representatives of The Procter & Gamble Co. and the Whirlpool Corp.

Between 1981 and 1983, 21 IRI firms cooperated with the University of Cincinnati team by providing detailed information about 221 R&D projects that succeeded or failed as commercial ventures in the late '70's and early '80's. The results of the study were used to inform both industry and government officials about the factors that discriminated between successful and failed attempts to convert industrial research findings into commercial products & processes. The IRI featured the results of this research at its 1984 national meeting in San Francisco. The presentation was well received. Several academic and IRI publications resulted.

As a direct result of the above project, four IRI firms (Procter & Gamble, Bethlehem Steel, Air Products & Chemicals & American Cyanamid Corp.) agreed to support additional academic research on topics that emerged from the IRI/Cincinnati project. Lehigh University agreed to establish a 'Research-on-Research' center along the lines of the 1969 IRI proposal. The four firms would provide the cash for research, and Lehigh would provide the office space and 'released time' to administer the program. The research would be performed at universities around the country by academics who were interested in the questions posd by the four industrial sponsors. In 1983, the 'Center for Innovation Management Studies' was founded at Lehigh on that basis.

In 1984 a Planning Grant was obtained by Lehigh University from the Industry/University Cooperative Research Program of the NSF. The purpose of the grant was to develop an operating plan for an expanded Center and to determine whether the interest in the CIMS concept was more widespread within the IRI than just these 4 companies. A meeting of IRI R-o-R members was held at Lehigh to assess this question. Feedback from the industrial participants to the NSF was positive, and CIMS was awarded a 5-year NSF grant as an 'IUCRC', the only one of its kind in the U.S. in terms of subject matter and operating style-it was a virtual research center whose investigators could (and do) come from academic institutions all over the country.

The IRI declined the opportunity to become an institutional sponsor of CIMS at this time (1985). Instead, it opted to send two represntatives chosen from the ROR Committee membership to each CIMS meeting, and to provide liaison between CIMS and the R-O-R Committee regarding research themes and priorities. In the spirit of reciprocity, CIMS representatives were to be invited to attend ROR meetings to stay abreast of the concerns of the industrial research management community.

In 1988 CIMS was invited to showcase its research results at the 50th Anniversary meeting of the IRI in Palm Springs, Ca. It was invited to take a full day of the two & one-half day meeting for this purpose. Several CIMS' academic investigators presented their research results at plenary sessions and held 'breakout' sessions and workshops to elaborate their methods, findings and to explore implications for management practice. Largely as a result of this exposure, CIMS membership grew to 16 sponsoring companiesby 1990, and demands on its resources expanded to include short course instruction and survey research, in addition to academic research.

Through the 1990's the IRI maintained its 'hands-off' institutional policy regarding financial support for the CIMS research program, while providing high levels of 'in-kind' support for government sponsored survey research projects that CIMS brought to the table. The IRI hired CIMS to conduct training programs for its members, and provided many opportunities for CIMS to interact with the IRI membership. Despite the long-lived relationship between CIMS and the IRI, the relationship continues to be an 'arms length' affair, with 'no guarantees'.

In 2000, 25% of the CIMS operating budget came from corporate sponsor fees, 50% from the National Science Foundation, and 25% from the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology & Science at North Carolina State University, its new academic home. In addition, NCSU provides in-kind support for two full time professional staff members.

In 2003, the Center has made significant changes to its value proposition and offerings to its Corporate Sponsors. The Center currently has five Corporate Sponsors and is hoping to add another two to the roster by the end of the calendar year. The Center has also successfully organized and held two special topic workshops since moving to NC State University. Both workshops produced proceedings, which can be obtained through the CIMS office. The titles of these workshops were: A Workshop on University Intellectual Property Policy, and Partnering for Product Innovation - How to Establish Strategic Alliances.

Our primary mission remains the same: to link the industrial community of Technology Management Practitioners with the academic community of Technology Management Researchers for the purpose of advancing useful knowledge about the management of technological innovation through research.