Funding central research

As global competition intensifies and the proprietary age ends for once-dominant companies, these organizations are seeking ways to better couple research to development and business groups. As a result, the funding of central research organisations has come under increasing scrutiny. There are several different approaches-from central funding to tying a large portion of the research budget to business division contracts. The success of each model depends less on the model itself and more on the supporting programs and policies that are put in place on the supporting programs and policies that are put in place around it-and on constant evaluation of research practices. Hewlett-Packard, IBM, NEC, and Siemens illustrate three distinct approaches to supporting central research.