Research and Development Projects. Characteristics and Significance

Abstract

The article presents the significance and complexity of research and development projects. It justifies the opinion that the research and development projects are indispensable in Poland from the perspective of the policy of innovativeness conducted. The thesis that most projects require research projects in the phase of analysis is proved by the quoted examples. It results from the fact that in this phase, the question whether the undertaking is well-founded needs to be answered. And research work has to be done in order to answer it. The discussion is based on author's own research, interviews with managers and implementers of different sort of projects as well as on the literature. Research and development projects are formulated in the situations of great risk and a goal which is not always explicit. It is emphasized that at present, the approach to research and development projects is connected with the whole operation of the organisation and with the processes conducted in it. Project management requires some interdisciplinary knowledge and working skill of teams of different professional qualifications. The significance of processes of cascading information and knowledge is also indicated. The final section outlines the proposals of directions of research on management of this kind of projects.