The human side of managing risks in R&D projects

The findings of a three-year field study on R&D/product developments shows that effective risk management involves complex sets of variables related to task, people and organizational process. Specific challenges and barriers to effective risk management are identified, as well as the type of organizational environment and leadership style conducive to proactively dealing with risks. Effective managers must understand more than just the tools and techniques of enterprise risk management (ERM). They must also know how to simplify the R&D work and its transfer processes, and deal with the complex social, technical and economic issues that determine the culture and value system of the enterprise